A24 and DirecTV have acquired North American distribution rights for the drama “Skin” out of the Toronto Film Festival, Variety has learned.

The movie, about a man raised by skinheads who risks his life to leave a white supremacy group, premiered on Saturday night as part of TIFF’s Special Presentations section. “Skin” received strong reviews and awards-season buzz for Jamie Bell’s performance as Bryon Widner, the subject of the 2011 documentary “Erasing Hate.”

As part of the deal, “Skin” will be released in 2019. The movie is directed by Israeli filmmaker Guy Nattiv, who also produced the picture. The rest of the cast includes Vera Farmiga, Danielle MacDonald, Mike Colter, and Bill Camp.

The movie’s other producers are Oren Moverman; Maven Pictures’ Trudie Styler and Celine Rattray; Jaime Ray Newman; and Dillon D. Jordan. Maven, a production and financing company based in New York, has a proven track record at launching festival darlings. Their films have won directings prize at Sundance for the last two years with “The Kindergarten Teacher” and “Novitiate.”

As Bell told Variety, he packed on 20 pounds to play Widner, wore a prosthetic nose and teeth, and spent 90 minutes in the makeup chair to have his body covered in tattoos. His stunning transformation is drawing comparisons to Edward Norton in “American History X.”

ICM Partners negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers.