Mysterious Skin

Name: Mysterious Skin
Genre: Drama
Released: 2004
Duration: 105 min
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brady Corbet, Michelle Trachtenberg, Lisa Long, Elisabeth Shue

Gregg Araki20041h 45mDrama

Why we chose it

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbet (who later directed “The Brutalist”) are extraordinary in Gregg Araki’s unflinching story of childhood abuse. Araki told his young actors they were in a different film and used tricks to shield them from the scenes’ sexual side, and it feels painfully real.

Synopsis

In the summer of 1981, eight-year-old Neil believes that what his coach is doing to him is a sign of love. One rainy day Brian, from the same team, loses five hours and wakes up in a basement with a nosebleed he can’t explain, and as a teenager he decides he was abducted by aliens. Ten years on, Brian is obsessed with UFOs and Neil is selling himself in bars, until Brian comes across an old team photo and recognises the boy from his dreams.