Araki has abandoned the nihilistic day-glo world of L.A teens to create his first truly great film. Indeed, by any standards, this film is magnificent. It follows two boys; one of whom was abused as a child and the other who believes that he was abducted by aliens' from childhood to their troubled later lives. The film has a visual beauty that pulls the viewer in even though the subject matter is both difficult and painful. The director pulls no punches in confronting the viewer with the horror of the situation but neither does he exploit it for tabloid style sensationalism. From the superb performances, the excellent and intelligent script, through to the inspired direction and stunning 'shoegazer' soundtrack this is a splendid film. I left the cinema deeply moved by what I had seen and can now only hope that Araki continues to work at this level of quality. Something quite special and a work of art

In 1981, Brian Lackey suffered from blackouts and bloody noses. His family is crumbling. He and his mother saw a UFO. Neil McCormick had sexual feelings for the baseball coach. His neglectful single mom (Elisabeth Shue) would leave him alone and the coach would spend time alone with him. In 1983, Neil and Wendy take another boy during Halloween and end up abusing him. Brian is taken by a man and has another blackout episode. In 1987, Neil (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is 15 and selling himself. Wendy (Michelle Trachtenberg) has a unrequited crush on the homosexual Neil. In 1991, Brian (Brady Corbet) sees Avalyn Friesen (Mary Lynn Rajskub) on a TV show about real alien experiences. She helps him investigate his blackouts. Neil leaves and follows Wendy to NYC. Brian finds Neil's friend Eric and his mother.

The child abuse is creepy as hell. I think it's a mistake to portray so much of it especially early on. First, it's a high hurdle to clear for most audience. Second, it takes away from the shock of the reveal at the end. Overall, this is a good disturbing movie. JGL is amazing in this movie. While much of this movie is about Brian, JGL keeps making Neil the lead.

In 1981, in Hutchinson, Kansas, the eight years old boy Neil McCormick is sexually abused by his pedophile baseball coach and his deranged and promiscuous mother does not pay attention. Meanwhile, the also eight years Brian Lackey awakes from a brief amnesia of four hours with a bleeding nose, but his negligent father does not pay attention to the event. Brian grows-up believing he had been abducted by aliens. The gay Neil grows-up as a hustler. When Brian is eighteen years old, he looks for and meets Neil, who discloses dark innermost secrets of their past.

"Pedophilia" is one of the most unpleasant themes to make a movie, and I recently saw an excellent film called "The Woodsman" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361127/usercomments-134),about a child molester trying to have a normal life after twelve years in prison. "Mysterious Skin" approached the same theme, but through the eyes of the victims, showing how irreversible this crime might be, due to negligence of the parents. The powerful story is very impressive, with a awesome performance of Joseph Gordon-Levitt that deserved an Oscar nomination. The direction of the unknown (for me) Gregg Araki is amazing, and the actors and actress are simple magnificent. This movie was presented in the "Festival de Cinema do Rio de Janeiro" ("Rio de Janeiro Cinema Festiva"l and in the "29ª Mostra BR de Cinema de São Paulo" ("29th Exhibition BR of Cinema in São Paulo"). My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Mistérios da Carne" (Mystery of the Flesh")