The Reflecting Skin

R

1990

1h 35m

Drama

List

82%

17 Reviews

Tomatometer

77%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Growing up in the 1950s in small-town Idaho, 8-year-old Seth (Jeremy Cooper) and his friends play a prank on the town recluse, a widow named Dolphin Blue (Lindsay Duncan). When his friends start disappearing, Seth becomes convinced Dolphin is a vampire, stealing the souls of the neighborhood children one by one. After his brother, Cameron (Viggo Mortensen), returns home and takes a liking to Dolphin, Seth feels it's up to him to save Cameron from his friends' fate.

Read More

Read Less

Peacock

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Rent The Reflecting Skin on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

Alec B

American Plains Gothic. The surrealism is measured and the emotions are not which makes for a bizarre and beguiling viewing experience.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/28/24

Full Review

isla s

This is very much a quirky and sinister feeling film about a perhaps overly imaginative youngster stuck in rural America, with a slightly spooky undertone to it. I thought the cinematography was great - shots of sunrises/sunsets in the background with the wheat blowing about - yellows and oranges. There's some good dialogue. Its not a violent film, although there are scenes depicting animal cruelty and showing bright red blood, if but fleetingly. The vampire subplot may sound a bit daft but I could sort of understand why the young boy believed what he did. I did get a little confused about some plot aspects and it is perhaps slightly too arty for my personal tastes but its still a film thats worth seeing, definitely. It depicts isolation quite well I think and perhaps other people would take away different things. This is not a film for frog lovers, I'll add that and say no more so as not to provide any additional spoilers(!).

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

unusual, memorable, images that stay with your for life.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

destonio n

Jesus, that was awful.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Worst thing I have ever seen. This movie has given me nightmares, not of the scenes but of being forced to watch it again.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

dave s

The Reflecting Skin is a frustrating viewing experience as one can't help but think that this had the potential to be a great film. Why? The cinematography is stunning – virtually every scene is bathed in a golden hue, reflecting the amber wheat that surrounds the characters. The story is intriguing – a series of murders in the barrens of America's midwest. The characters are interesting as all seem to have some deeply rooted issues. However, things are undone by a ridiculously melodramatic music score that seems to swell at just the wrong moment, child actors who can't seem to act, and the absurdity of the fact that the main character knows exactly who is responsible for the killings but refuses to share the information with the authorities. And the vampire angle just feels pointless…much like the movie.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Philip Ridley

Director

Viggo Mortensen

Cameron Dove

Lindsay Duncan

Dolphin Blue

Jeremy Cooper

Seth Dove

Sheila Moore

Ruth Dove

Duncan Fraser

Luke Dove

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

74%

80%

The Indian Runner

80%

87%

The Saint of Fort Washington

80%

73%

Where the Day Takes You

80%

60%

Straight Out of Brooklyn

88%

71%

Six Degrees of Separation

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Steve Davis

Austin Chronicle

The Reflecting Skin may befuddle you by what it's all about, but like a vivid dream, you'll have a difficult time forgetting it.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

It will enrapture those attuned to its wheatfield surrealism and repel, violently, everyone else.

Rated: A+

Aug 24, 2022

Full Review

Nick Rogers

Midwest Film Journal

Seth's descent is one into a very American imagination of violence - defined less by actions he takes than those he allows to happen, cheap thrills that yield disastrous consequences. Sound akin to anything toward which we're teetering these days?

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 29, 2020

Full Review

Anton Bitel

VODzilla.co

a portrait of America that is, in all its estranging hyperrealism & 'magic hour' sheen, both iconic & oneiric - a dreamy, doomy antidote to nostalgia in which rural naturalism, gothic touches and a constant mood of menace all combine

Apr 18, 2020

Full Review

David Bax

Battleship Pretension

By setting The Reflecting Skin in middle America in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, Ridley allows himself plenty of opportunity to contrast the country's post-War boom with the psychic destruction of a returning soldier like Cameron.

Aug 30, 2019

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Haunting and hypnotic, The Reflecting Skin gets under the skin and is content to remain there.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 17, 2019

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Growing up in the 1950s in small-town Idaho, 8-year-old Seth (Jeremy Cooper) and his friends play a prank on the town recluse, a widow named Dolphin Blue (Lindsay Duncan). When his friends start disappearing, Seth becomes convinced Dolphin is a vampire, stealing the souls of the neighborhood children one by one. After his brother, Cameron (Viggo Mortensen), returns home and takes a liking to Dolphin, Seth feels it's up to him to save Cameron from his friends' fate.

Director: Philip Ridley
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 6, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $6.0K
Runtime: 1h 35m
Sound Mix: Surround

Most Popular at Home Now