Review of Skin Deep

This low budget female centric film from director Jonny Leahy, a recent VCA graduate, is an honest and comical urban comedy/drama looking at the developing friendship between two troubled young women from different backgrounds. Leah (newcomer Zara Zoe) is a young woman who has been diagnosed with terminal melanoma, who has a chance encounter with the troubled lesbian Caitlin (Monica Zanetti). It's a meeting that sets the two off on a journey through the streets of Newtown as they learn to embrace life and face the future. Written by star Zanetti, the script for Skin Deep has a deeply personal and semi-autobiographical feel to it as it was based on her own experiences of dealing with melanoma. There have been a number of female centric films dealing with lesbian relationships, from 1995's The Incredibly True Adventure Of Two Girls In Love through to last year's more explicit Blue Is The Warmest Colour and even the recent Carol. Skin Deep deals with Caitlin's sexuality in a positive light, and there is a touching scene towards the end involving a discussion between her and her father. But there is no sex in Skin Deep; rather Zanetti's nuanced script explores female friendships, mortality, sexuality and the emotional journey of the two protagonists as they talk about their lives and fears. The meandering and leisurely pacing, the dialogue driven narrative and the insights into the characters as they wander through the city streets at night will remind audiences of Richard Linklater's Before trilogy. Skin Deep is the debut feature film for director Jonny Leahy, who has years of experience from working behind the scenes as part of the camera crew on television shows like Changi and Fireflies, and films like The Night We Called It A Day and Albert Nobbs, etc. His direction is unhurried and measured. Leahy and his cinematographer Rodrigo Vidal-Dawson (Wildside, etc) have shot much of the film on the streets of Newtown itself, lending a rich authenticity to the journey of the two girls. Zanetti delivers a fine performance as the aggressive, troubled Caitlin. Newcomer Zoe seems a little tentative in early scenes, but she grows more comfortable and assured as the film progresses.