Mysterious Skin

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Mysterious Skin

Released Sep 11, 2004

1h 39m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

86%

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116 Reviews

89%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

One youth (Brady Corbet) becomes obsessed with UFOs, while another (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) becomes a gay hustler in the years following a childhood trauma.

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Critics Consensus

Bold performances and sensitive, spot-on direction make watching this difficult tale of trauma and abuse a thought-provoking, resonant experience.

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David Ansen

Newsweek

The movie sugarcoats nothing, but it doesn't revel in its own darkness either. It sheds a clear, compassionate, illuminating light.

Feb 28, 2018

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Noel Murray

The Dissolve

[...] For a movie about something as painful as child sexual abuse, Mysterious Skin doesn't repel. There's an allure to the images, which are as carefully posed and framed as figures in a softly illuminated dollhouse.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 17, 2014

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

Gordon-Levitt's performance is nothing short of astonishing.

Rated: A-

Nov 28, 2005

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Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

This evocative adaptation of Scott Heim's acclaimed novel is an impressive return to form for writer/director Gregg Araki (The Living End, The Doom Generation). More to the point, it's his best film.

Rated: 4/4

Jul 31, 2024

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Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

A harrowing, but ultimately compassionate film that will stick with you long after the credits roll.

Rated: 4.5/5

May 20, 2024

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Joe Lipsett

Horror Queers Podcast

Araki's fearless adaptation of Scott Heim's novel is challenging and uncomfortable. Featuring a stand-out performance by Gordon-Levitt and intimate, unflinching close-up camerawork by the writer/director, Mysterious Skin is important and powerful.

Rated: 4.5/5

May 15, 2024

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Blu B

Best performance I've ever seen from J.G.L. and an All Time Classic. Everyone is giving really good performances and the acting is really good. But Levitt is the standout. The music is really good too but I wish it was a bit more catchy on its own. Everything else is masterful. The close up wide shots, surreal scenes, the on location raw low budget look this has, really makes it meorable and stand out with a unique and honest look at trauma and how two people deal with the fallout from the same tramatic event. Even though the two kids never share the screen together for 90% of the runtime as we jump between them throughout their stories there united by the same event and the ebbs and flows of Acting out vs repressing. This doesn't attempt to try and give a Hollywood ending to it but is a honest and sincere look at childhood trauma. The Alien story also is avery unique twist on everything too for an already very unique subject matter. I will say this is very difficult to watch and not everyone should see this. If your a big fan of any actors in this than defintely give this a try. But know going into this, this is a very brutal raw and unforgiving look at the subject at hand with heavy NC-17 type stuff. If you can handle that than give it a watch. You won't regret it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/16/25

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Micaela M

movie was sad as balls, so if you need to cry or be depressed and contemplative watch this

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/24/25

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Vincent R

This movie is very wired and very disturbing to watch but it’s definitely worth the watch.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/18/24

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Dominik G

dude

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/07/24

Full Review

Courtney K

wow. this was really well done; incredibly heartbreaking, super powerful. i kept wondering how the 2 boys' stories were going to come together - this was a really effective way of telling the story.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/17/24

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mor c

Que buena pelicula, como para no verla otra vez

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/29/24

Full Review

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Synopsis

One youth (Brady Corbet) becomes obsessed with UFOs, while another (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) becomes a gay hustler in the years following a childhood trauma.

Director: Gregg Araki
Producer: Gregg Araki, Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte, Mary Jane Skalski
Screenwriter: Gregg Araki, Scott Heim
Distributor: TLA Releasing, Tartan Films USA
Production Co: Fortissimo Film Sales, Desperate Pictures, Antidote Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 11, 2004, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): May 6, 2005
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 9, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $697.2K
Runtime: 1h 39m
Sound Mix: Surround

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