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The Reflecting Skin

Play trailer Poster for The Reflecting Skin R 1990 1h 35m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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81% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
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.
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The Reflecting Skin

Critics Reviews

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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 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 David Keyes Cinemaphile.org Moves with dreamlike confidence through a culvert of hard realities that are unflinching and insufferable, sometimes to the point of personal discomfort. Rated: 3.5/4 Jul 1, 2016 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Leigh P In the end, I feel like I wasted my time unfortunately. I kept waiting for a clear meaning. All I got from of it is that like is difficult which most of us know. The golden fields were beautiful along with many other vivid colors. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/27/24 Full Review Beau S This one is awful, I do not recommend. Go outside and watch the grass grow. That is better than watching this one. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 09/01/24 Full Review 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 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 Read all reviews
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The Reflecting Skin

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Movie Info

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
Producer
Dominic Anciano, Ray Burdis
Production Co
Téléfilm Canada, British Screen Productions, Ontario Film Development Corporation, BBC Film, National Film Trustee Company, Zenith Entertainment, Fugitive Features, Bialystock & Bloom Limited
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
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