As a result of writing reviews for this site, I have wound up on the mailing list of several PR firms, who send information about movies my way on a pretty regular basis. This means that several films I might not have otherwise heard of are brought to my attention, including a host of low-budget indies. The quality of said films of course varies widely, but I always take value in getting to see them, as often even the less-than-perfect projects still expose me to a young filmmaker with a lot of promise and some bold ideas. Such is the case with The Serpent’s Skin, 21-year-old trans Australian writer and director Alice Maio Mackay’s sixth (!) feature film, all with co-writer Benjamin Pahl Robinson.
Twentysomething trans woman Anna (Alexandra McVicker) flees her emotionally abusive household to live with her older sister Dakota (Charlotte Chimes) in the city. Finally free to be herself, she quickly strikes up a relationship with attractive neighbor Danny (Jordan Dulieu) and gets a job in a local record shop. It’s there where she first encounters Gen (Avalon Fast), a young woman who she had being seeing in visions.
Gen explains that she had her own premonitions of Anna’s arrival in the city and so had gone there specifically to find her. She then reveals that she knows about Anna’s latent supernatural powers, as she has similar gifts of her own, and offers to teach her to use them. In the days that follow the pair quickly grow close and fall into a romantic relationship. Danny still seems to be interested in his new neighbor but accepts that they will only be friends going forward, though it turns out that recent events have led to him harboring a dangerous secret of his own.
It’s immediately apparent that The Serpent’s Skin was made with very little money, with the whole thing coming across like a queer fan-made homage to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That said, there is a certain scrappy charm to it, with everyone involved clearly happy to be there and 100% committed to their roles. The love of the craft (pun intended) practically oozes from the screen, carrying the viewer pleasantly along despite the movie’s flaws.
Anna is a pretty well-drawn character, with clear motivations and a relatable story rooted in feelings of “otherness”. The rest of the cast is a bit hazier unfortunately and the dialogue as written can sometimes come off as unnatural. Luckily, the actors’ charisma is strong enough to mostly pull it off.
Aside from the presence of a few too many musical montages, the movie is otherwise well-assembled and strikingly shot. The script smartly draws parallels between modern society’s treatment of the trans community and history’s witch hunts while also deftly displaying the joy that comes from being surrounded by people who love and accept you no matter what, something that most will relate to regardless of gender identity. For some this will undoubtedly become a story to treasure, but alas for me, it could have used a bit more refinement before the cameras started rolling to be truly special. As it stands, I found it to be more interesting than good, but it does have me curious to see where Mackay will go from here. ★★½
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