If you don't recognize the beautiful acting and the that provoking plot, you should not be able to rate this movie. Though dreadfully disturbing in some parts, it is terribly compelling.

Very well done and very watchable film from a director who has always promised so much.

Sometimes it's like a gay "X-Files", and sometimes it's like the third season of "My So-Called Life" that never was(Ricky and Brian Krakow become best friends); all I know is that "Mysterious Skin" is compulsively watchable, a movie whose irreverent treatment of child abuse is grounded with irony-free angst (it's nothing like the equally brilliant "Happiness" by Todd Solondz) and a soundtrack (a Fraser-less Cocteau Twins) that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of alienation in a small-town. How the celibate boy's story is actually the same story as the chicken-hawking Goth… Expand

This movie was the best depiction on child abuse I've ever seen. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is amazing. The matter in focus is the most delicate subject you can ever put into live pictures, and yet, Gregg Araki manage to put in two seperate storylines, which in the end, connects.

One of the most harrowing and strangely touching movies I've seen in many years. The writing and acting are equally terrific.

I viewed Mysterious Skin for the first time about 8 hours ago and still feel a tremendous emotional reaction to this most unique film.

Disturbing but oddly cathartic film about an act of childhood sexual abuse and the varying ways two young men are stunted emotionally until they can deal with their pasts. Sometimes "out there" but with an unmistakable ring of truth.

One of this years ten best!

A film that is as honest and provocative as any film can be. One of the best of the year.

This is the most visually arresting, challenging, and haunting film not only of this year, but possibly of the last five years. The performances, across the board, are riveting and amazing. The script is brilliant, taken from a brilliant novel; Gregg Araki establishes himself as one of the most fearless directors of our time. This film should be distributed to wider release. It's a small masterpiece.… Expand

Joseph Gordon-Leavitt gives an amazing and haunting performance. This brutally honest movie stays with you long after it's over.

This is a brilliant realization of Heim's novel and I am grateful that the Landmark in Atlanta opted to book this film. Joseph Gordon-Leavitt's performance is extraordinarily powerful &one of truly remarkable depth. I would love to see him on stage. Imagine what he could bring to bear in a role such as Hamlet or Romeo; or perhaps something more modern, say from Tennessee Williams. Maybe Bobby in McNally's LOVE, VALOR, COMPASSION! In contemporary America, we have multiple and dramatic examples to confirm that, if you control the language (terminology), you can define and control the debate. "Late term abortions" are clearly criminal actions. Who could possibly be against a "war on terror"? And who could possibly support "special rights for homosexuals"? While I have not read all the previously posted comments; I am intrigued by some reviewers' choice of terminology, e.g.,. "sexual abuse", "child abuse", "molestation." Because the film I saw was exemplary in NOT using any such terms. One of the reasons I found the movie so "particulary complex... [and] profound" is that I was not instructed to reach a predetermined conclusion codified by the labels assigned to what had transpired. Neil does not say, "I was the victim of sexual molestation by a pedophile who led me into a life of drug abuse and prosttitution." Neil says Coach loved him. Brian struggles with bloody noses, blackouts and dreams he strains to understand. But his rage is against his father for never being his advocate and seeking out the cause of his child's troubles. We see no rage when his boyhood experiences are illuminated for him. Rather we are presented with a pieta: as Brian rests his head in Neil's lap and the strains of "Silent Night" drift over them. This is a film of greys. And all the more powerful for being so.… Expand

Three months after seeing this film I still think about it, my throat clenches and I find myself tearful. No movie has ever affected me that way.

I don't normally comment much on the movies I see, and thats probably because most leave me pretty ho-hum. I like a movie that takes you somewhere, wrenches your gut, stirs all sorts of emotions and leaves you numb and thoughtful. I also like a movie that is real. I saw Mysterious Skin tonight and thought it was one very amazing movie, telling a very real story many of us know about, but don't share with but a handful of people. Even though it was very difficult to watch in parts, it was handled with alot of care to bring out an understanding of the feelings and emotions that are set alight in the abused, and the abusers. I especially liked the way the two boys very different experiences of dealing with the abuse were handled, and the different ways they found to cope with the missing link to love. Although some have said it wasn't graphic, I felt it was, but then the emotion that was stirred due to seeing the confusion and the pain of the boys cut at a deep level for me. If you're willing to understand the inner depth of the abused, then this is a must-see. The cast were brilliant, not one of them could be criticised for anything less than a perfect performance. The soundtrack by Harold Budd and one of my all-time fave bands, The Cocteau Twins, guitarist Robin Guthrie was excellent, very moving and matched the emotive scenes exceptionally well. I'm out to buy this tomorrow. Five stars for this. Best movie I've seen this year.… Expand

I didn't like it at first but as it went on it kind of made it difficult not to accept and keep watching. Whatever that means. It's really well made. It's not for everyone and I'm not sure, even though I liked it, that it needed to be as graphic as it was.

This film was a surprisingly faithful adaptation to Scott Heim's controversial novel. If anything, Araki has improved upon the novel's slightly ametuerish writing while still capturing the same plot. Another surprising part of this film was how Araki changed the character of Eric from a melodramatic character, to a comedic one, supplyign an amusing balance to the film.

Easily one of the best films of the year, and certainly the most thought-provoking and visually gorgeous.

A terrifying look into the lives of two molseted boys, MS is clearly the best film of Mr. Araki's career. Mr. Gordon Levitt delivers a Spirit Award deserving performance, and the visuals by Steve Gainer are stunning.

A movie that manages both to expose the horrors of child molesting while also acknowledging that children have sexual feelings. Daring, honest, and terrific acting.

Mysterious Skin is indeed beautiful, mysterious, delicate, heartrending, honest, gorgeously shot and gorgeously told. It is also amazingly faithful to the source material and manages to reproduce the lush, eidetic prose of the book in a visual language. The Seattle PI reviewer couldn't be more symptomatic of a culture that demonizes sexual abusers at the same time that it glorifies and infantilizes sexuality, refusing to see the shades of gray and damage childhood sexual abuse can engender. … Expand

Brilliant.

One of the most disturbing but wonderful movies I've ever seen...Great acting, great script, great film-making (Arkai's best). For thinking people, Not for the superficial massses. People just sat for a few minutes after the movie, you have to sit for a minute to digest it. Soundtrack is also awesome (ambient/etherial work of art).

Amazing story and acting! very powerful and very disturbing....worth watching it.

Shocking, simply shocking! Granted any intelligent viewer would have anticipated the denouement long before it was revealed, still through the masterful work of the director you are held spellbound! wow!

Mysterious Skin is gut wrenching story, tragedy with great acting from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbet. Mysterious Skin is a movie that stays with you, it's impossible to shake off.

Sad, odd and viscerally beautiful film about the act itself and the aftermath of child molestation. A film about how profoundly such experience can affect the free will, the choices the victims make later in their life and ultimately the constitution of their personality. Is there a lesson to be learned here? With all the uncompromising depiction and dialogue all over the place, i really doubt that. All that you are left with is the wish that you yourself were able to change the past of these poor souls. Trust me, that implausible and irrational wish will linger on you for days just like some mysterious skin.… Expand