In Love The Skin You’re In, directed by Kenn Michael and written by Sauda Johnson-McNeal, Sauda Johnson-McNeal plays Sasha, a successful Los Angeles photojournalist working on a project to shine a light on her community. By day, she runs a Women’s Empowerment Center founded by her late grandmother. The center is a pillar of the community, but times are tough, and Sasha learns that the building where the center rents space is being gentrified. Unless she can raise a lot of money quickly, the center will be shut down, and her grandmother’s legacy will simply vanish.
Solving the problem requires teamwork, involving her assistant, Yessica (Flor Delis Alicea), her childhood best friend, Melissa (Blythe Howard), and the steady, supportive voices around the center, like Ms. Emily (Adilah Barnes) and her godmother, Brookie (Marla Gibbs). The first option is to declare her grandmother’s center a historical landmark. With the deadline approaching and a plan not firmly in place, Sasha begins to panic, and the problem is compounded by the return of her estranged father, Arnold (Obba Babatundé). He is suffering through a severe case of diabetes and is infuriated that Sasha is about to destroy his mother’s work.
Dr. Nikki (Wendy Raquel Robinson) gives Sasha the straight talk she doesn’t want—but needs.
“By day, she runs a Women’s Empowerment Center founded by her late grandmother.”
In Love The Skin You’re In, the focus is on the mental health and growth of Sasha, played by Sauda Johnson-McNeal. If we’re not like Sasha, we know people who are. At the crux of Sasha’s problems is her relationship with her father. He is a tough man who demands greatness from his daughter. The constant haranguing of her father’s “I knew it was a mistake…” is Sasha’s key conflict. Now, with the loss of a legacy and a community that is counting on her, the pressure builds, and Sasha goes into a full-blown panic attack.
The second act begins as Sasha seeks help from her therapist, Dr. Nikki (Wendy Raquel Robinson). She becomes exactly what Sasha needs, even if Sasha refuses to acknowledge that she needs help. Dr. Nikki provides no-nonsense advice and a keen eye as to what makes Sasha tick. What Love The Skin You’re In shows is that growing as a person often involves severe growing pains and confronting the parts of our lives we don’t want to confront, much of which involves her father.
Love The Skin You’re In may not be ultra-dark drama, nor are the stakes life-and-death, but it is down-to-earth drama. It’s a struggle and conflict we can all relate to, which makes it more valuable… even if it’s full of positivity. Even you have to admit, we need that a lot of the time. It highlights that life is a constant struggle to grow and that we can’t do it alone. Not every film you see needs to be ultra-dark and life-or-death. This is a warm, human drama about doing the hard work—asking for help, facing family, and learning to carry a legacy without letting its burden crush you.
"…This is a warm, human drama about doing the hard work..."
