Mysterious Skin
A shocking film that contains child sexual abuse, male prostitution, an abundance of anal and oral simulated sex scenes, a rape scene, physical abuse, reference to ‘fisting’, a nude scene, a homosexual character, unsympathetic fathers, abduction, an AIDS sufferer, UFO references, alien transplants, selective amnesia, alcohol & illegal drug usage. However, the film missed incorporating ‘terrorism’. Unlike Salo (another film banned in SA) the film did not contain coprophilia. I believe the film should have an ‘R’ rating but should not be censored.
Mysterious Skin is predominately about two men who look much older than eighteen years of age. The film is set in both Kansas and New York City in 1981 and 1991. The film begins in 1981 with two boys aged 8 years who are ‘abused’ by their Little League coach. Ten years later one boy ends up a simpleton believing aliens abducted him and the other becomes a male prostitute. The various anal and oral sex scenes I believe were repetitive and tedious.
The film does contain a humorous scene. That scene was when the pimp says that he hates it when his client “Looks like Tarzan and sounds like Jane.” The film is very slow throughout and portrays currently held popular beliefs about how ‘perpetrators’ act. At the end of the film the truth about what happened to both men is revealed.
The film is dull, bleak, depressing, and really shocking in places (especially the rape scene). I do not recommend that you watch it. It would be better to buy yourself a meal or perhaps watch a better film. US films are generally of much better quality than this movie produced by Hopscotch Films. It is not even worth censoring.
Ron Hermann
