My quick rating - 4.3/10. The Serpent’s Skin is an artsy indie horror film that appears much more interesting when read about than when actually seen. The setup had me. Supernatural powers, goth tattoo artists, demons accidentally conjured through ink, romance entangled within it all? Sounds like somebody threw a handful of cool ideas into a blender and hit “puree.” Except now, instead of the mixture, you get the components.
The story follows Anna (Alexandra McVicker), who leaves home after an opening sequence of family tension that mostly involves her parents arguing while she quietly spirals. The film frames her departure as escaping a transphobic environment, though honestly, from what’s heard on screen, it felt less like some dramatic breaking point and more like she simply decided she was sick of being called "lazy". She heads to stay with her older sister, Dakota (Charlotte Chimes), immediately hooks up with Danny (Jordan Dulieu), and in this moment, casually drops that Anna is trans. If that detail was going to tie deeply into the larger supernatural story was what I was wondering. Spoiler alert: not really.
But then comes Gen (Avalon Fast), the dark-haired, tattooed artist who embodies everything that would have been considered cool about the coolest section of a nightclub. Gen and Anna relate on the basis of supernatural abilities, although the film takes its sweet time explaining exactly what those powers are. During one scene, when Anna is attacked during a robbery and suddenly appears with glowing eyes to frighten away the robber, I really believed we were headed down the path of a demonic possession plotline. Nope. Powers. Just superpowers. The movie explains things with the confidence of somebody saying, “Trust me, bro.”
There are plenty of moments where The Serpent’s Skin feels aggressively indie in both good and bad ways. Random angel wings costume for reasons the movie never feels obligated to explain. A band apparently exists solely to stand around pretending to play music without us ever actually hearing any of it. Artistic sex scenes happen in separate rooms with enough moody editing to make you wonder if you accidentally clicked into an experimental student film. Somewhere along the line, Danny morphs into what appears to be an energy vampire. Or maybe he already was? Honestly, the horror side involving vampires, demons, or whatever exactly was happening never lands because the film seems oddly allergic to explanations.
That said, writer/director Alice Maio Mackay does keep things watchable. Budget limitations are obvious, but the effects are perfectly serviceable for a smaller indie production, and several scenes are framed surprisingly well. Visually, there is a lot of artistic flair, and the romance between Anna and Gen feels believable enough to keep me watching.
The biggest issue is that The Serpent’s Skin fails to be a cohesive feature-length movie. It feels more like bits and pieces of stories layered on top of one another. More like your friends at a table at the club are trading ghost stories. There was atmosphere and charm enough to make watching worthwhile, but it mostly slithered right out of my memory.
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