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Movies / On DVD / Mysterious Skin
Mysterious Skin

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Mysterious Skin (2005)

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83 %
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Reviews Counted: 94

Fresh: 78

Rotten:16

Average Rating: 7.1/10

Consensus: Bold performances and sensitive, spot-on direction make watching this difficult tale of trauma and abuse a thought-provoking, resonant experience.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:2005-05

Box Office: $508,378

Synopsis: In MYSTERIOUS SKIN, an unlikely director takes on an even more unlikely lead actor and crafts a deeply felt coming-of-age tale that pulsates with the scalding beauty of tragedy. The director, Gregg... In MYSTERIOUS SKIN, an unlikely director takes on an even more unlikely lead actor and crafts a deeply felt coming-of-age tale that pulsates with the scalding beauty of tragedy. The director, Gregg Araki, whose over-the-top gay melodramas have been criticized as largely empty provocations, proves himself here to have great sensitivity. Yet it is the lead actor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, best known for his work on the alien sitcom THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN, whose unforgettable, nuanced performance makes the film. Based on the novel by Scott Heim, the story follows two teenage boys living in small-town Kansas: Brian (Brady Corbet), a clunky and awkward fellow with no discernable social life; and Neil (Gordon-Levitt), a rebellious gay youth whose fragile beauty and cruel indifference make him a successful hustler to the area's older men. Having suffered from blackouts as a child, Brian believes that these voids were actually alien abductions, and goes on a quest to confirm this. As his memories become increasingly vivid, Brian convinces himself that Neil, the star player on his childhood Little League team and a regular presence in his dreams, knows the truth. Neil does, in fact, know exactly what happened: the boys were sexually abused by their Little League coach. While Brian has suppressed the incident, Neil has held it deep within him like a treasure, considering it to have been a loving relationship of respect and tenderness, the absence of which has left him emotionally empty. The two strands of narrative are braided together elegantly, slowly leading up to a devastating final scene. Araki unifies the stories through an elegiac, celestial tone that manages to avoid preachiness via doses of appropriate humor. MYSTERIOUS SKIN is so profoundly alive with sadness and beauty that it nearly burns. [More]

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brady Corbet, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jeffrey Licon

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brady Corbet, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jeffrey Licon, Bill Sage

Director: Gregg Araki

Director: Gregg Araki
Screenwriter: Gregg Araki
Producer: Jeff Levy-Hinte, Mary Jane Skalski
Composer: Harold Budd, Robin Guthrie
Studio: TLA Releasing

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Release:

Mar 21, 2006

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Reviews for Mysterious Skin

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

"Mysterious Skin" is a devastating yet beautiful film that honors its fragile characters with vital respect.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/15/09
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: CHUD | comment Comment
02/27/09
Devin Faraci
CHUD

Even with the numb dialogue and trite characterizations we've come to expect from Araki, Mysterious Skin might have worked with the right actor in the charismatic role of Neil.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
David Noh
Film Journal International

a bizarre, beguiling coming-of-age drama

Full Review Source: Perihelion Journal | comment Comment
09/11/06
Jay Antani
Perihelion Journal

This one clearly has more meat on the plate than Araki's earlier more shallow and sensationalistic films.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/20/06
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
05/12/06
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review

Gregg Araki nous offre son %u0153uvre la plus mature à ce jour.

Full Review Source: Panorama | comment Comment
02/09/06
Jean-François Vandeuren
Panorama

Sensível e tristemente trágico, o filme é um doloroso estudo de personagens beneficiado por uma atuação estupenda de Gordon-Levitt.

comment Comment
01/03/06
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gordon-Levitt's performance is nothing short of astonishing.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
11/28/05
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

A raw and unadorned look at child abuse and its idiosyncratic repercussions.

Full Review Source: Mixed Reviews | comment Comment
10/30/05
Gabriel Shanks
Mixed Reviews

Araki has given us his most mature work yet, a fiercely focused yet oddly dreamlike meditation on innocence and loss.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
09/30/05
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A superb achievement.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
09/02/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

A riveting original that some may find almost too agonising to experience

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/30/05
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
08/19/05
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sweet and disturbing at the same time.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
08/19/05
Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly

Delicately balances the sordid and rough with the childlike and fantastic...

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
08/15/05
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
 
 
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October 05, 2005: Summer Tomatometer Wrap-up #3: The Best of the Limited Releases
In the hot summer months, everyone's looking for a way to cool down. This summer, movie audiences decided one of the best places to beat the heat was in the barren,... More...

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