Young and beautiful Kira is afflicted with a strange disease: her skin starts to age rapidly, dry out and crumble away. When she discovers that she can replace her own skin with somebody else´s, she has to choose: watch her own body wither and die – or give in to temptation…… whatever the price.

Norbert Keil’s Replace is a well-crafted cringe inducing new film starring Rebecca Forsythe. The film poses questions about the value of youth and beauty. Replace is both thought provoking and terrifying. Early on the film was a bit hard to follow. But before long the pieces began to fall into place enough to get my bearings. Replace maintains an air of mystery that ultimately comes together in a very satisfying way.

Forsythe plays Kira, a young woman enjoying her youth but already beginning to fear the ravaging of age. She is on a date with Jonas (Sean Knopp) discussing the kind way men are treated by age versus the cruelty of it toward women. Kira laments the treatment of her mother when her father left her for a younger woman. She spends the night with him but finds him gone in the morning. As she walks home, she calls her friend Martha telling her about the evening. Martha seems to accuse Kira of making this up and hangs up on her. Confused Kira realizes that walking home on autopilot has her outside of Jonas’ building again. She has the key and goes in.

While there’s no signs of Jonas there are plenty pointing to the fact she lives there. Additionally she discovers that the skin on her left hand appears to be dry and begins to peel and bleed. Kira visits an experimental skin doctor but that doesn’t help much. Doctor Crober (Barbara Crampton) wants wait for the test results before proceeding. Beginning to have a breakdown Kira meets her neighbor Sophia (Lucie Aron.) When Sophia accidentally cuts herself losing a small chunk of skin, Kira uses the skin to replace a bit of her dry crumbling skin. Sophia’s skin attaches to her body giving her a small normal patch, thus discovering a potential cure.

A good deal of the film has a dark claustrophobic look to it. Many of these dark scenes have a dominate colored light to them such as the red lit basement where one of Kira victims “donates” her skin. However, there are a number of brightly lit moments as well. Mostly in Kira’s bathroom as she examines her decaying skin. 

The soundtrack of Replace was quite good. I liked the song choices. And the pulsating score by Tom Batoy and Franco Tortora really intensified the uneasy atmosphere of the film. But the best elements of the film were the makeup and special effects. As Kira tore off sections of her own dying skin I really felt the pain. Likewise as she acquires replacement skin from those unwitting donors. 

There were some aspects of the film that were still a bit confusing. Mostly these are related to the events of Kira’s life and their respective timeline. However the fact that we’re not sure is not necessarily a bad thing as it helps to make Kira more sympathetic as we share her uncertainty about what is going on.

Forsythe, Crampton, and Aron all do a wonderful job in their roles. Forsythe is so authentic in the film that she keeps you on her side throughout. Even as Kira begins to make questionable decisions, you feel for her and understand her desperation. Crampton perfectly balances a the trust and distrust that both Kira and the audience feel regarding the mysterious doctor who may know more than she lets on. Similarly is Aron whose Sophia is the only friend Kira has  but you never stop questioning if there isn’t more to her as well.

Replace is the kind of film I really like in that since watching it I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. My mind has been racing trying to figure out the timeline of the film. And I question what blame lies where for each thing that happened.