The Reflecting Skin 1990

The Reflecting Skin

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

77%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 2,653

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The Reflecting Skin Photos

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Movie Info

Growing up in the 1950s in small-town Idaho, 8-year-old Seth (Jeremy Cooper) and his friends play a prank on the town recluse, a widow named Dolphin Blue (Lindsay Duncan). When his friends start disappearing, Seth becomes convinced Dolphin is a vampire, stealing the souls of the neighborhood children one by one. After his brother, Cameron (Viggo Mortensen), returns home and takes a liking to Dolphin, Seth feels it's up to him to save Cameron from his friends' fate.

Rating:

R
Genre:

drama
Original Language:

English
Director:

Philip Ridley
Producer:

Dominic Anciano, Ray Burdis
Release Date (Streaming):

Aug 6, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA):

$6.0K
Runtime:

1h 35m
Sound Mix:

Surround

Cast & Crew

Viggo Mortensen
Cameron Dove

Lindsay Duncan
Dolphin Blue

Jeremy Cooper
Seth Dove

Sheila Moore
Ruth Dove

Duncan Fraser
Luke Dove

David Longworth
Joshua

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Critic Reviews for The Reflecting Skin

All Critics (16) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (14) | Rotten (2)

Quote not available.

January 1, 2000 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle
Seth's descent is one into a very American imagination of violence - defined less by actions he takes than those he allows to happen, cheap thrills that yield disastrous consequences. Sound akin to anything toward which we're teetering these days?

October 29, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Nick Rogers
Midwest Film Journal
a portrait of America that is, in all its estranging hyperrealism & 'magic hour' sheen, both iconic & oneiric - a dreamy, doomy antidote to nostalgia in which rural naturalism, gothic touches and a constant mood of menace all combine

April 18, 2020 | Full Review…

Anton Bitel
VODzilla.co
By setting The Reflecting Skin in middle America in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, Ridley allows himself plenty of opportunity to contrast the country's post-War boom with the psychic destruction of a returning soldier like Cameron.

August 30, 2019 | Full Review…

David Bax
Battleship Pretension
Haunting and hypnotic, The Reflecting Skin gets under the skin and is content to remain there.

August 17, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Moves with dreamlike confidence through a culvert of hard realities that are unflinching and insufferable, sometimes to the point of personal discomfort.

July 1, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

David Keyes
Cinemaphile.org
The director shows off his technical skills and a sick humor.

February 9, 2016 | Rating: B | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Philip Ridley's acclaimed tale of childhood, vampires and the prairie is as beautiful and menacing as ever.

December 22, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Ed Gibbs
Electric Sheep
The Reflecting Skin is a strange, at times wonderful film, one that leaves more questions open than answers. Its palate and performances collide in ways that seem unique decades on.

July 23, 2015 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…

Jason Gorber
ScreenAnarchy
When you name a character Dolphin Blue, saddle her with a dead husband she didn't know, which causes her to lose her mind, and suggest that she might be a 200 year-old vampire, you should probably suggest that she's more of a representational figure.

December 27, 2011 | Full Review…

Adam Lippe
Examiner.com
Quote not available.

June 24, 2005 | Rating: 3/5

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Quote not available.

July 16, 2003 | Rating: 3/5

Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

View All Critic Reviews (16)

Audience Reviews for The Reflecting Skin

Apr 16, 2014

I wish somebody could explain to me what I just watched.I have NO idea what this movie was suppose to be about.The only thing I know is that this movie was WEIRD!!! Every single person in The Reflecting Skin seemed to have mental problems or some issues they were dealing with.If you like WEIRD movies then this is the movie for you.I only watched The Reflecting Skin because it was listed under Horror.I don't know what type this movie should be listed under but it should not be Horror.There was nothing scary or horrifying about it.It was just...... WEIRD!!!

Brody M Super Reviewer
Apr 20, 2010

An intresting film about the "nightmare of childhood." I could see a lot of people complaining about the seemingly random and creepy events of the film, but I think they are missing the point. The movie is shown through the eyes of a 9 year old boy who is going through several traumatizing expierences and nobody who he looks up to is able to explain what is going on in his life, so he is forced to create his own answers for why these things are happening to him. The film will leave you as confused as the boy is, but that is the point. Either way an excellent directorial debut from British playwright Phillip Ridley and several good performances from the actors (most notably a young Viggo Mortenson.) Recommended for fans of the bizarre,

Ed Fucking H Super Reviewer
Apr 23, 2009

A little boy in rural post-WWII America believes that his lonely widow neighbor is a vampire who is killing his friends and wants to kill his beloved older brother. A literary and ambiguous slice of Midwestern Gothic that teems with unresolved metaphors.

Greg S Super Reviewer
Jan 28, 2009

An odd and disturbing, surreal Aussiie film which incorporates several creepy themes into its plot. Very high production values. Fans of the film Powder should enjoy the sinister and quirky storyline.

Pamela D Super Reviewer