MYSTERIOUS SKIN

MYSTERIOUS SKIN begins with two boys looking back at the same lost summer, and builds one of the most devastating portraits of memory, trauma, and survival in 2000s American cinema.

The film follows two young men from the same small Kansas town whose lives have been shaped by something they barely understand. Neil, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, has grown into a guarded, reckless teenager who uses charm as armour. Brian, played by Brady Corbet, is quiet, anxious, and convinced that a strange childhood event involving UFOs and alien abductions explains the gaps in his memory. Their stories move separately at first, then slowly begin to point toward the same buried truth.

Adapted from Scott Heim’s novel, MYSTERIOUS SKIN takes material that could easily become sensational and treats it with restraint. Araki, better known for his bright, abrasive queer punk films of the 1990s, shifts here into something more devastating. The colours remain vivid. The soundtrack still matters. But the film works through patience rather than shock, showing how childhood damage can distort memory, intimacy, identity, and the need to be believed.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance is extraordinary, and it changed how many people saw him as an actor. The film is difficult, yes. It’s also one of the most important American queer films of the 2000s, and one of the clearest examples of Araki’s ability to make pain feel specific rather than decorative.

Please note: this film deals with childhood trauma and abuse. Viewer discretion is advised and all guests must be aged 21 years or older.