‎Mysterious Skin (2004) directed by Gregg Araki • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Mysterious Skin

2004 Directed by Gregg Araki

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

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

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Brady Corbet Michelle Trachtenberg Mary Lynn Rajskub David Lee Smith Elisabeth Shue Chase Ellison Billy Drago Chris Mulkey Richard Riehle

105 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Cole Bradley ★★★★★ 3

This movie is beautiful, captivating, fascinating, moving, powerful and an absolute masterpiece.

And I will never watch it again.
Review by Jay ★★★★★ 6

Trailer

This film is tough. This film is really, really tough. Ignore for a moment that it deals with child abuse, teenage prostitution, rape and the empty futility of a life wasted, and consider the core message itself: that trauma is unavoidable, that one day we’re all going to suffer some sort of tragedy and that, no matter how we attempt to deal with that tragedy, it will always be there, shaping our lives and dragging us back into the past. It’s one of those unspoken truths that is so simultaneously terrifying and crushing, and one that it is very hard to effectively capture via the medium of film, that it’s a true testament to all involved that Mysterious Skin…
Review by IHE ★★½ 16

I like most of how it is shot: close, intimate and uncomfortable. It’s unflinching attempt to accurately depict the horrors of the subject matter, and the psychological results it can have on a person, are noble to say the least. However the majority of performances (especially from every child actor) are tremendously awkward and mostly unconvincing, with the talented actors being hindered by the corny on the nose dialogue. There are a couple of solid, well executed dramatic scenes that I thought worked well. Unfortunately for me though, the hokey writing and mixed acting really pulled down what could have been a pretty powerful story.

It’s not surprising that the film was edited on final cut, it’s not particularly cinematic,…
Review by Milez Das ★★★★★ 6

I am sitting her shaking and shivering, crying. I don't think I can sleep tonight. I am stunned and shocked. TWO BOYS. ONE CAN’T REMEMBER. THE OTHER CAN’T FORGET.

Mysterious Skin crushed me into pieces, broke me. JGL gives one of his best performance here. The final 10 minutes....
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★½ 7

lacerations, lesions,
blunt force & bruises;
trauma is timelessness.
Review by Katie ★★★★★ 1

LOGAN AND I ARE CRYING LIKE IDIOTS FUCK THIS MOVIE

Recent reviews

Review by Lau🍒 ★★★★½

Very rarely does a story affect me in such a deep way and Mysterious Skin does that effortlessly. Araki's pernicious yet beauteous drama values its delicate characters with enormous veneration; addressing the extreme subjects of physical and sexual abuse and pedophilia without an ounce of cliché. It's painful to watch this criminally understated masterpiece without it triggering your fears or causing so much agony but it needs to be seen.
Review by willow

what the fuck!!!!! what the actual fuck! im dying
Review by gaylen ★★★★★ 1

how many times can i log this movie challenge
Review by evan 24/7 ★★★★½

as @lcova said, this movie has big hurt urself energy

really wanted to cut ALL my hair off after watching this and become a hermit forever. so painful
Review by miajmerrill ★★★½

i just wanted to hand JGL a sandwich he was so small
Review by Carl ★★★

Damn! That was so disturbing .___.
Review by ✨ christie ✨ ★★★★½ 5

probably the most upsetting film i've ever seen. i need to watch the most wholesome and gentle movie ever as a follow-up in order to combat just how distressed this left me. any suggestions?
Review by sparky ★★★★½

oh my god.

this film is tragic, and stunning, and remarkably uncomfortable. once all the pieces start to come together, they don’t stop and go much too far. i love how unafraid this film is. it tells a brutal story and does not stray from the narrative for a second. almost unbearably hard to watch, but worth finishing.
Review by Kye ★★★½

I will echo what everyone else has said, this is a tough one. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s story was disheartening, but in a good way. His story definitely carried most of the weight throughout.

Brady Corbet’s story was sometimes interesting, but the ending payoff for the character for the final scene becomes one of the best scenes of the movie. There are so many unforgettablemoments, moments that will be burned in my head.

I have to say, the editing is quite bad. Like laughably bad. It kind of ruins some scenes of how they end.

Characters do things for the sake of the plot, instead of characters doing it for the characters sake. And this movie got some cheese, fine fine cheese. Some may not like it, but I honestly didn’t mind. It is there though.

It was definitely well worth a watch. Can this please get a blu-ray?! Arrow Video, I’m waiting.