Mysterious Skin (2004)

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

Director:

Gregg Araki

Writers:

Gregg Araki (screenplay), Scott Heim (novel)

Stars:

Brady Corbet, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elisabeth Shue

5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Brian Lackey is determined to discover what happened during an amnesia blackout when he was eight years old, and then later woke with a bloody nose. He believes he was abducted by aliens, and N. McCormick, a fellow player on Brian's childhood baseball team, may be the key as to exactly what happened that night. As Brian searches for the truth and tries to track him down, Neil McCormick takes up hustling and moves to New York, in attempts to forget childhood memories that haunt him. Together, the two of them uncover the terrible truth of the scars they share.

---

Plot Keywords:

gay male prostitute | male hustler | loss of innocence | buried memories | man boy relationship | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA Netherlands

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 June 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Piel misteriosa

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,425, 8 May 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$697,181, 31 July 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Antidote Films (I), Desperate Pictures, Fortissimo Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 107 min (Sundance Channel Library Print)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After Brian steals the picture of his baseball team from the archives, the film cuts to Neil announcing a baseball game. He says "That's two outs, Garfield the batter. Heim on deck." Scott Heim wrote the novel on which the film is based.

---

Goofs

There is a Metallica "St. Anger" sticker (with the "St." torn off) on the right rear fender of Eric's Gremlin in 1991. "St. Anger" wasn't released until 2003.

---

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.

---

Crazy Credits

The Dead Next Door (1989) Film Clip Courtesy of Amsco Studios/Tempe Entertainment

---

Alternate Versions

The 2005 film reviews generally list a 99 minute run-time. The British Board of Film Classification, bbfc.co.uk, rated the uncut 105m 19s film as 18 on 5/20/2005. The 3/20/2006 "Unrated Director's Edition" Strand Releasing DVD has a 104m 59s run-time, but its case lists a 99m length; it is also anamorphic 853x479 pixels format (1.78:1 aspect) but the case lists Letterboxed. The Internet Movie Database technical specifications list a 107 min Sundance Channel Library Print, but on Sundance.com Sundance TV lists a 105 minutes run-time.

---

Connections

Featured in This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

---

Soundtracks

Game Show
Composed and Produced by Dag Gabrielsen

User Reviews

An engrossing and challenging experience

Not since HAPPINESS has such a difficult subject been tackled head on! Without spoiling any of the film, I will just say that I was engrossed in the film, shocked at how far the director was able to go, and heartened by how many issues he was able to raise, and show so many possible effects of what the characters go through. There were so many situations in this film that I had never seen portrayed before, that this proves how much film-makers avoid so many issues.

A familiar, likable cast are taken deep into dark territory. I enjoyed all the performances and believed the characters, even though I had seen all the actors before on TV. The music is just wonderful - from the guy behind The Cocteau Twins - it adds to the dreamlike/nightmarish quality of the film. It's unusual enough to add to the uniqueness of this film - it really is ground-breaking - and Robin Guthrie's music/The Cocteau Twins haven't been used before in movies (though you may have recognised Liz Fraser's vocals in the last Lord of the Rings soundtrack).

This film impressed me the most in 2004 - I hope everyone gets a chance to see it!