It’s fitting that after an affair like the Cannes Grand Prize-winning BlacKkKlansman that Spike Lee would attach his name to actor, writer and director Nate Parker’s latest pic, American Skin.
The product of Parker’s own inspiration to cast a resounding light on some of today’s important issues through film, The Birth Of A Nation now precedes Parker’s sophomore offering at the helm here following his travels to Missouri in 2014 in the wake of the murder of Michael Brown.
“The most tragic moment of this trip arrived when I stood downtown between two infuriated groups of citizens.” he said. “From one side came yells of ‘Justice for Mike Brown’ and on the other ‘Support Our Police’. It became clear to me, instantly, the disconnect in our understanding of citizenship, law enforcement, and our responsibility to preserve American life.”
That brings us to American Skin, a new crime drama with a heavy, innate focus on an issue that continues to pervade the American way of life to this day. To add, Parker also stars in the film from his own script which, according to the announcement “weaves a layered story in the tradition of Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men and Dog Day Afternoon.
Anerican Skin follows Lincoln Jefferson (Parker), a Black Iraqi War Marine veteran who has served two combat tours in Iraq, now working as a custodian in a prestigious California high school, a job he secured only to ensure enrollment in the school to his 14-year old son KJ (Tony Espinosa), following his divorce.
One fateful evening, however, Lincoln and KJ are stopped by police, and moments later, an altercation leads to the fatal shooting death of KJ, who is unarmed son. Lincoln is hopeful the system will prevail in his favor, but when he learns he’s been denied a fair trial against the officer responsible for pulling the trigger who will instead be reinstated to active duty with no charge or indictment, Lincoln grows disillusioned with the justice system and takes matters into his own hands in a series of events he hopes will finally lead to justice for his son.
The official trailer is out this week ahead of its VOD release on January 15, 2021, and you can check it out above, as well as the official poster below.
American Skin is a Spike Lee presentation, and is a Tarak Ben Ammar/Mark Burg Production. The film also stars Omari Hardwick, Beau Knapp, Theo Rossi, Shane Paul McGhie, Milauna Jackson and Mo McRae.