Mysterious Skin (2004)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Gregg Araki

Writers:

Scott Heim (novel)
Gregg Araki (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 March 2005 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

Two boys. One can't remember. The other can't forget.

Plot:

A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.

Plot Keywords:

Hustler | Alien | Alien Abduction | Boy | Love

Awards:

5 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Chase Ellison	...	Neil (Age 8)
George Webster	...	Brian (Age 8)
Rachael Nastassja Kraft	...	Deborah (Age 12) (as Rachael Kraft)
Lisa Long	...	Mrs. Lackey
Chris Mulkey	...	Mr. Lackey
Elisabeth Shue	...	Mrs. McCormick
David Lee Smith	...	Alfred
Bill Sage	...	Coach
Riley McGuire	...	Wendy (Age 11)
Ryan Stenzel	...	Stephen Zepherelli
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Neil
Richard Riehle	...	Charlie
Michelle Trachtenberg	...	Wendy
Brady Corbet	...	Brian
Larry Marko	...	Old Man with Scar

Runtime:

99 min | USA:107 min (Sundance Channel Library Print)

Country:

USA | Netherlands

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Brazil:18 | Canada:18A (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:R (Alberta/British Columbia) | USA:NC-17 | USA:Unrated (DVD rating) | Italy:VM14 | Germany:18 | Finland:K-18 (TV rating) (2007) (self applied) | Portugal:M/18 (Qualidade) | France:-16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:R | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Ireland:18 | Singapore:R21 | UK:18 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Desperate Pictures

Trivia:

Cameo: [Beau J. Genot]the man whose "severed head" is on the table is played by the film's associate producer.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Brian and Neil break into coaches house. Niel goes in the left small window of a 3 window. When they cut to inside and Niel helps Brian into a single larger window.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Brian: [narration voice-over] The summer I was 8 years old, five hours disappeared from my life. Five hours. Lost. Gone without a trace.
Brian: [narration voice-over] Last thing I remember I was sitting on the bench at my Little League game. It started to rain. What happened after that remains a pitch black void.

Movie Connections:

Featured in This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

Soundtrack:

Drive Blind

Rise Like Two Angels In The Night... And Disappear

Araki's newest film takes on a much more subtle note. The darkness of his other films is again apparent and gone are the many bizarre comic reliefs. The movie goes deep deep into story, even to tackle a really hard to watch subject about love and sex between men and little boys.

The story revolves around Niel, how he grew up and had his first climax from seeing another man get off. This lead to a deep interest in the older man, the little league coach and how he seemed to be everything young Niel wanted. Cut to the other main role, Brain, a geeky kid who for some reason, seemed to have had a blackout one day and was believed to have been abducted by space aliens(again an Araki tradition in movies.). his story revolves around his obsession with aliens and how and why and who abducted him in the dark time he's forgotten. Niel found his soul mate Wendy very young and she's since moved to New York to find more to life than living in Kansas with no goal in life. Niel wants to follow her as well since his prostitution to local Joe's at the park has run sour. What he finds about new york however is that with a bigger city, he will have more problems and issues with his Kansas style. Niel's and Brian's path intertwine eventually over something perhaps both of them would like to forget, but should get through it so they can move on with their lives.

The acting in this is Very real, and while at times Niel comes off as cocky, its said by Wendy as "Where normal people have a heart, Niel McCormick has a bottomless black hole. And if you don't watch out you can fall in and get lost forever". There's a few select scenes that seem to go over the top with lewd and violent expressions so try and take heed before watching this. The music was simply amazing. It reminded me some of Endless Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, with very deep and sad music all through it. The movie is very dark and some parts are very depressing, but its worth watching to have everything explained in the end.

Personal bias: I've seen four of Araki's films so far, with Nowhere being my favorite. Araki seems to be able to get some pretty huge stars and put them in roles you wouldn't exactly picture them fitting well in but this really tested main character Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I viewed it alone and with a complete open mind, as its most times required to really soak in the mood of such films. It took me in and really got to me. This style film is definitely meant to look deeper into relationships, and why people are the way they are. The meaning in the end reminded me a lot of Nowhere's with the wish that people could just go to another world like angels, or aliens. Do not look for comedy here but instead a deep meaningful story with some really controversial scenes, but also an amazing musical score, and superb acting.