Greenes
Please don't spend money on this.
Sexyloutak
Absolutely the worst movie.
Glucedee
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
framptonhollis
All of the confusion and sadness of childhood trauma and abuse perfectly portrayed. All of the tears and fake half smiles and twisted memories. All of the frustrations. All of the guilt. Everything. And nothing. 'Mysterious Skin' is...it's a really really really strong film. Powerful to the near max. It shook me to my core and I am now practically wordless. To say the least it is not at all a pleasant film, nor is it a perfect film (some of the lesser editing choices did take me out of it every now and then), but it is an important and impactful film that beautifully and disturbingly tells an important and impactful story about so much and so little at the same time. It does not hold back. It says what needs to be said. And that's that.
woodcoinmagazine
This film portends to break new ground but falls into exploitative trash within an hour. The first boy as a prepubescent learns gay sex from a coach, then becomes a whoring teen; meanwhile, the second nonsexual boy becomes a weirdo with alien- abduction theories. You can maybe guess the "twist" already! What a waste of time, this shallow and predictable film, bent on a pseudo- intellectual audience. (Gordon-Levitt was a TV sitcom actor for a reason -- he works well in 2 dimensions, not 3! Too bad about his co-star having to ride in the passenger seat.) Extreme poser-lit-as-cinema, promising untold truths yet delivering nothing but the PC police. My guess is that the writer of the novel on which this movie is based was sexually active as a kid and wants to cash in on the latest trend by being a mouthpiece against underage sex and sexuality. An unartistic attempt at metaphor (some cereal/serial and a sexless cow? Pathetic as the snow falling on cold-hearted teens). Skip this piece of propaganda because it's nothing more than an adult saying: do as I say, not as I do. At least the corny director always has a future in kiddy porn... For a serious and fair film with a sardonic sense of humor on this same subject please do watch "L.I.E." instead.
Harry Waterman
Sensitive and unflinching, a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt is on early peak-form as a victim of the advances of a paedophile and later on becomes a prostitute. Brady Corbet plays a UFO enthusiast and paranoid youngster, also a former victim to the same sex offender. This indie adaptation of Scott Heim's hard-hitting novel is quite brilliant in its approach to tender issues, however the film does fall short at times as the tone is often inconsistent and the film appears plot less at times. It annoys me how this film is often categorised as an LGBT film, when its really not.. It draws no attention to any LGBT issues, except a brief reference to the AIDS virus but apart from that its a film about child-molestation and the affects it can have on a fragile child.
d_m_s
I couldn't find any fault in this film at all. The acting, characters, storyline, directing, cinematography, soundtrack etc. were all fantastic. I was surprised to be so convinced by Gordon-Levitt's performance as he is not someone I am very keen on.It's very engaging, interesting, though-provoking and (despite the tragic subject matter) enjoyable.It reminded me a bit of Bully in the sense that it has very realistic and meaty characters in desperate situations and suffering from inner turmoil.It's been a while since a film has engaged me enough to score it a 10 and I am very pleased to have discovered this one.
