Northern Ireland, 1994. During a time of political upheaval, two young men in their early twenties dream of escape even as they grill beef ribs at their local pizza shop. Vinny and Jonty deeply wish to break away from their small town and head off somewhere else. When they unexpectedly get a chance to make big money dealing drugs, they begin seriously planning their escape. Skintown carries forward the rebellious sensibility born of political and emotional isolation that ran through so many British films of the 1990s, including Trainspotting (1996). The film takes anxiety and mistrust as the very air of its era, portraying the young people wandering through it as dangerously vulnerable. Yet they pay it no mind—getting drunk, doing drugs, playing music, partying, and sometimes getting into fights. The intense energy that hangs over it all has no clearly defined shape, and perhaps that is precisely what makes it so beautiful.
Kieron J Walsh is an Irish filmmaker working across film and television. He directed When Brendan Met Trudy (2000), scripted by Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle, and Jump (2012), both of which were screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. He was subsequently invited to the SXSW Film Festival with The Racer (2020).
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
