Mysterious Skin

An absolute ethereal soul-crushing other-worldly horrific nightmare of a movie. I can’t get enough of it. It is so meditative, so reflective, like staring into a lake that is filled with dangerous creatures, but damn if the turquoise water isn’t beautiful. I never cry while watching it, but I am forced to confront even more knots of inaccessible pain stuck in my body every time I rewatch. It is a journey to the center of the soul and the center of the universe, but completely bypasses the physical body, so much so that at the end, when you and the characters finally wake up from the dream they’ve been living in, you’re acutely aware of just how mistreated your body has been. As someone who grew up like Neil McCormick but didn’t know why until my recent Brian Lackey-esque revelation that left me dry heaving and lifeless in my partner’s arms, this movie is a gift and a curse and regression and therapy. I cannot thank it enough for helping me through such a confusing, yet clarifying time in my life. Remarkable work of art.  As Gabe acutely said, this is Gregg Araki’s magnum opus.