'Skin in the Game': Film review. A former sex-trafficking victim helps a single mother track down her missing daughter in Adisa's thriller
Cinematic thrillers about human trafficking necessarily have to walk a very fine line between shining a spotlight on a vital social issue and mere exploitation. First-time filmmaker Adisa mainly handles the balancing act well with her debut feature, even if the low-budget indie too often resembles a vigilante-themed episode of.
The film's most interesting and yet unfortunately underdeveloped plot element concerns the relationship between Dani's single mother Sharon , a nurse, and Lena , whom she enlists to help track her daughter down since the police are unwilling to get involved in a missing person case for 24 hours. The two former friends were once close, with Lena even being Dani's godmother.
Lena has more than a little experience in the world Sharon is attempting to penetrate, since she was once an unwilling prostitute herself. As we see in an early scene, she now dedicates herself to helping women who have found themselves in a similar plight. The film is at its most effective with its gripping depiction of Sharon's attempts to extract information from her former underworld contacts, displaying formidable courage and bad-ass steeliness in the process.
Also interesting is the subplot concerning Violet , another young woman involuntarily working for Eve, who's involved in a romantic relationship with one of the men charged with handling her. At least Violet thinks she's involved; she's delighted when he unexpectedly gives her a gift, until she discovers that it's the sort of obscenely short, tight dress meant to be worn on the job.
Director Adisa displays estimable technical chops with this debut effort, infusing the proceedings with such stylistic flourishes as the frequent use of split-screen that inevitably recalls the '70s-era thrillers to which the film bears a marked resemblance.Cast: Erica Ash, Elisabeth Harnois, Angélica Celaya, Sammi Hanratty
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