Mysterious Skin (2005)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

In 1981, Brian Lackey suffered from blackouts and bloody noses. His family is crumbling. He and his mother saw a UFO. Neil McCormick had sexual feelings for the baseball coach. His neglectful single mom (Elisabeth Shue) would leave him alone and the coach would spend time alone with him. In 1983, Neil and Wendy take another boy during Halloween and end up abusing him. Brian is taken by a man and has another blackout episode. In 1987, Neil (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is 15 and selling himself. Wendy (Michelle Trachtenberg) has a unrequited crush on the homosexual Neil. In 1991, Brian (Brady Corbet) sees Avalyn Friesen (Mary Lynn Rajskub) on a TV show about real alien experiences. She helps him investigate his blackouts. Neil leaves and follows Wendy to NYC. Brian finds Neil's friend Eric and his mother.The child abuse is creepy as hell. I think it's a mistake to portray so much of it especially early on. First, it's a high hurdle to clear for most audience. Second, it takes away from the shock of the reveal at the end. Overall, this is a good disturbing movie. JGL is amazing in this movie. While much of this movie is about Brian, JGL keeps making Neil the lead.

Mysterious Skin is unlike the other Greg Araki films, as it doesn't feel like one, where normally there's crude humor within the drama, and sick violence, not to say The Living End, his debut was the other great one, where here he's climbed back up, and redeemed himself, in what is his best film. Alongside Palindromes, with it's pedophile themes, here this excellent films deals with the issues and scarring effects, it can have on one victim, that chiefly being of Corbett's innocent and slightly vulnerable character, that he wonderfully plays. Corbett is one of those really elite young actors, who I hadn't recognized years later as the plump psycho in the Funny Games remake. Here his character was abused as a kid by a baseball coach, spoiling him with lollies and taking him to R rated movies. One night he's punished, locked in a closet. Now in his teen years, he's having nightmares of alien abductions, where his only cure, could be going back to that of the past, revisiting his childhood, where he hunts down another of the victims, now a hustler, played by a take notice performance as seen in the great Joseph Gordan Levitt, who makes the movie his. His character sets no boundaries, picking up dirty old johns, one moustouched guy, also seen in Palindromes, another of that, being the creepy and evily smiling Billy Drago (check out his teeth). The film is a beautiful and poignant drama, and one of the more affecting films that deal with pedophilia, where to think it was initially in talks of being banned, that itself, is sick. Like these films, or ones that are banned, all together, these which are in denial of being shown, are crimes against cinema, for MS which luckily escaped a banning, was one of the best films and drama of 2005, where Mr Araki, should be proud to put his signature on. When our two long lost victims, finally meet which at first is, ugly, that last comforting scene, last moment, is one for the annals of cinematic memory. MS is a beautiful and dramatic Art house film which deserves bloody attention from all, with fantastic performances all around.

I couldn't find any fault in this film at all. The acting, characters, storyline, directing, cinematography, soundtrack etc. were all fantastic. I was surprised to be so convinced by Gordon-Levitt's performance as he is not someone I am very keen on.It's very engaging, interesting, though-provoking and (despite the tragic subject matter) enjoyable.It reminded me a bit of Bully in the sense that it has very realistic and meaty characters in desperate situations and suffering from inner turmoil.It's been a while since a film has engaged me enough to score it a 10 and I am very pleased to have discovered this one.

Admittedly, the source material could offend many people who went unaware, just like me, into this film. I really had no idea what the film was about other than it looked somehow appealing and I'd already watched two Hollywood-fodder-ish films earlier during the day and wanted something perhaps off the beaten track.The subject material is, of course, somewhat disturbing, but after about 40 minutes I chuckled to myself (in that knowing way) because I was really enjoying the film. The pleasure you feel when you have found a little gem that isn't trying to pander to anyone, but has something to say and is just going to say it anyway.As for the people who were offended by the subject material. You can't really address topics like homosexuality or paedophilia without delving into imagery that might offend. I didn't feel, however, that the film attempted to glamorise or encourage such practices. I saw a lot of young people who were having a hard time of it, who were looking for answers, wanted to know why they were so f**ked up about the past, and eventually found out why. Not through fault of their own but because of their upbringing - the absent father, divorced mother or paedophile coach at school that took advantage of little boys.The Director approached things in a light-hearted, free-spirited sort of way that I really enjoyed. Perhaps this was done in an overly frivolous way that offended some people? Perhaps the synopsis about aliens and abductions is misleading, I agree with that, but rotten things do happen to kids and the Director's interpretation of this through kids blocking out the bad memories by supplanting them with something more fantastical, was very clever. Some of the scenes were disgusting, yes, but also very true, funny, shocking and entertaining.Gregg Araki approached it wonderfully and I was really pleased with this film. It reminded me of 'Trainspotting', and in no small part of 'Lilya 4-Ever', which was equally shocking and entertaining, but didn't set out to offend, but to enlighten people who are broad-minded and experienced enough to appreciate gritty film-making.