Mysterious Skin (2004 film)

My previous experience with a Gregg Araki film, his later excellent stoner comedy “Smiley Face”, gave no hint he was capable of crafting a film this devastating, thoughtful, and haunting. “Mysterious Skin” cuts deep with its unflinching depiction of disparate reactions to abuse and grief, Gordon-Levitt turning in possibly the best performance of his career, contrasted with Corbet playing the other lead as a wide-eyed bookworm determined to resolve his amnesia, on a collision course whose end we dread. This film made me sick to my stomach and I don’t anticipate watching it again, and it is, also, a masterpiece.

10