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Mysterious Skin
A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
12 May 1948, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, USA
6 October 1963, Wilmington, Delaware, USA
22 June 1971, Detroit, Michigan, USA
17 February 1947, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
17 February 1981, Los Angeles, California, USA
11 October 1985, New York City, New York, USA
24 August 1960, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
14 January 1981, Provo, Utah, USA
September 15, 2009
treads harrowing ground without falling into the pit of clichéJune 24, 2005
The usual Araki elements are here (hustlers, rebels, uproar, the absurd), but now he appears to be working with focus and compassion.July 21, 2005
Manages to deal with its raw, awful subject matter in ways that are both challenging and illuminating.August 21, 2010
a bizarre, beguiling coming-of-age dramaMarch 07, 2014
Contains a few flat notes of community participation, but Araki locates all the necessary surges of hopelessness and misguided desire, ending victorious in his quest to adapt Scott Heim's provocative novel.March 17, 2014
[...] 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.July 22, 2005
Araki's best film in a long time.November 07, 2012
By exploring the taboo topic of paedophilia in a humanist manner that avoids sensationalising or heavy-handed verdicts, Araki's eloquent, sensitive film actually presents an indictment far stronger than any moral grandstander ever could.July 21, 2005
The audience has gotten the point roughly 90 minutes before the characters do.July 01, 2005
This is a challenging and ultimately moving film that deserves to find a like-minded audience.July 29, 2005
Gone is the gloomy nihilism of The Doom Generation and The Living End, replaced by a melancholy, but hopeful, affection toward people with the capacity to overcome tremendous psychological trauma.May 11, 2016
Like most good films, this one demands something from you, not just you from it. Some may run for cover, or for the exit, but those who stick around this strange and rich film will be sent out floating.