Snakeskin (film)

Craving that "American adventure" she's seen so often in the movies, starry-eyed Alice (Melanie Lynskey) sets out on a road trip across New Zealand with her lovesick best friend, Johnny (Dean O'Gorman). Things take a devilish turn when they pick up the enchanting but dangerous Seth (Boyd Kestner), a Texan hitchhiker fleeing a posse of irate skinheads (led by Oliver Driver) and a pair of vengeful drug dealers. == Cast ==

• Melanie Lynskey as Alice • Boyd Kestner as Seth • Dean O'Gorman as Johnny • Oliver Driver as Speed • Paul Glover as Terry • Charlie Bleakley as Owen • Gordon Hatfield as Tama • Taika Waititi as Nelson • Jodie Rimmer as Daisy • Jacob Tomuri as Robbie == Production ==

Writing The script was inspired by Ashurst's own experience of growing up in Canterbury: "There was always that sense that you wanted to go somewhere else ... On the surface it felt quite safe, but once I became a teenager and started going to parties, I learnt that Christchurch has quite an underbelly. Skinheads were quite a thing around town back then. They were always breaking up our parties and beating people up ... I wanted to confront that [in the film]". Filming Snakeskin was filmed in and around Methven, New Zealand. == Release and reception ==

After debuting at the Cannes Film Market in May 2001, Snakeskin was released theatrically in New Zealand on 11 October 2001. The film performed averagely at the box office, In a more mixed appraisal, Varietys David Stratton felt that Melanie Lynskey was "excellent" in the lead role, while noting, "The first half of [this] Kiwi road movie promises much, but a spiral into death and violence toward the end, and a supernatural twist that doesn't really work, spoil what is mostly a pacy and, for a while, exciting yarn". Snakeskin went on to receive six prizes at the 2001 New Zealand Film Awards. == Accolades ==

• 2002 AFI Fest, Los Angeles • Nominated: Grand Jury Prize • 2001 New Zealand Film Awards • Winner: Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Computer-Generated Images, Best Editing, Best Original Music (Joost Langeveld and Leyton), Best Contribution to a Soundtrack (Dave Whitehead) • Nominated: Best Actress (Lynskey), Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Makeup, Best Supporting Actor (Glover) == References ==