Review by Ratnesh
Mysterious Skin is a moving film, disturbing and beautiful and painful. The film follows the lives of two teenagers Neil and Brian, who are somehow united by an event…one can’t remember, the other can’t forget.
The film splits into two parallel narrative tracks, following Neil and Brian separately. Neil’s story is more serious and developed, involving his journey as a male prostitute. A prostitute not for money, but in an attempt to duplicate the intimacy he has had with his coach. Brian on the other hand doesn’t remember a thing and is convinced that he was the victim of an alien abduction. While Neil engages in increasingly dangerous sexual behaviour, Brian attempts to track him down – the boy in his nightmares.
The film’s style is very personal, frank and honest. Everyone has their own limits about what they can watch, and the film will doubtlessly offend some, but I found it terribly powerful. There’s a mounting sense of dread as you see where it is heading. How much more is the director is going to show, you wonder. But how the director builds the movie up to its climax is THE main reason why this movie is considered a classic – it is no doubt a must watch.
