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 Jeffrey Licon Mary Lynn Rajskub David Lee Smith Elisabeth Shue Chase Ellison Billy Drago Chris Mulkey Richard Riehle Bill Sage

Alternative Titles

Mysterious Skin - Unter die Haut, Oscura inocencia (Piel misteriosa), Загадочная кожа, 神秘肌膚

drama

105 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Cole Bradley ★★★★★ 4

This movie is beautiful, captivating, fascinating, moving, powerful and an absolute masterpiece.
And I will never watch it again.
Review by Jay ★★★★★ 8

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

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 Logan Kenny ★★★★★

“I wished with all my heart that we could just leave this world behind, rise like two angels in the night and magically disappear”

Recent reviews

Review by Eva Zee ★★★★★

Brian,
tender clutches,
run run run
i am thinking of you
Review by zoest ★★★★

Me encantó.
Thats it, that is the review
Review by lucynewbold ★★★★

jesus christ
Review by bug ★★★½

it's been a few days and i still don't know whether i loved or hated this movie. maybe both.
Review by sahiL ★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

I dunno how or why but the story felt a bit predictable to me. I had not read any reviews, this movie was in my watchlist just because of the high ratings it had received. Probably the movie sat very well with the audiences from 2004. There’s nothing wrong with the movie, per se. One boy who can’t remember and another who can’t forget. Connected for life. The stark contrast in the lives of both these characters shows how different people with shared trauma deal differently with reality.
Review by levi ★★★★½

i'm not saying that i recommend other people watch this at an age that's probably ultimately detrimental to your mental state but i can confidently say i'm glad i watched this when i did. it wouldn't continue to have the affect on me that it does today if it hadn't stuck around so vividly in my mind when i was 12/13. wish i could recommend this to more people because it really is like nothing else. i will definitely be re-reading the book soon.
Review by JairMijangos ★★★★

EL JUEGO DE LOS 5 DOLARES.
Araki narra de forma poética una traumatica experiencia, mostrando escenas realistas, sin caer en lo morboso.
Mysterious skin no es una película de ciencia ficción, pues solo utiliza la "abducción alienigena" como una metáfora sobre la infancia interrumpida y búsqueda de la verdad.
Un film terrible e inmundo, pero lleno de valentía por mostrar con exactitud la vulnerabilidad de los niños ante los atroces deseos del hombre.
Review by Pipo Budiono ★★★★★

I never want to remember anything from this movie EVER AGAIN.

side note: listening to 17 by Youth Lagoon right after watching this isnt a good idea. u might just shed a tear or two like I did.
Review by sh ★★★★★

strange how the greatest movies make you want to die...