Skinamarink (2023)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
This is, without a doubt, the most polarizing and divisive horror movie to come along in years.
You have never seen anything like this.
Full of off-kilter shots, with random disturbing images and long stretches of inactivity, the film’s sound design and unique visual look creates moments which are unnerving, unsettling, and unbelievably tense.
NO
However, those stretches of inactivity could bore you to a point where when something happens you have completely checked out and given up on the film as a whole.
Despite its success, there have been so many reports of theater walk outs.
I cannot guarantee you will not hate this movie within five minutes.
OUR REVIEW
Call it a fever dream. A cinematic nightmare. Evil captured on screen. There is so much happening through the absence of activity in Kyle Edward Ball’s debut feature, Skinamarink, that you cannot help but feel anxious, unsettled, perhaps even find yourself in some form of distress.
At the same time, some will view this film as pretentious garbage. The worst film they have ever seen. They will shut it off in minutes. Walk out of the theater.
The film is full of blurred, hazy, cathode ray-lit rooms, with lingering shots of walls and ceilings. There are disturbing rumblings of sound. Occasionally we hear intermittent, disturbing whispers. Some are distorted, others command an action. Skinamarink is not light or easy. This is a demanding, challenging film and absolutely not anything you can properly prepare for.
Occasionally, in film criticism, you come upon a movie that defies categorization. Ball’s film may be categorized as a horror movie, but that feels like a relatively safe space to hide a potentuially unsafe film. There are jump scares, stabs of sound and frightening images, all building to, and playing with, heart rates and anxiety. Ball tries to control fear like a diabolical madman with the ability to manipulate an audience on a whim.
The story centers around two young children, Kevin (Lucas Paul) and Kaylee (Dali Rose Tetreault), who at ages 4 and 6, respectively, are facing the realization (is it a realization?) that their father, or perhaps their parents, have abandoned them in the family home. Kevin has had a fall, we hear his father mentioning to someone that he will not need stitches. And then things get very strange.
Windows disappear. Doors vanish. Over time, everything begins to disorient and degrade more and more. “Where did it go?” asks Kevin when the window in a room is gone. His frequent calls out for “Dad” often go unanswered.
Soon we realize the kids are likely not alone, but adults are likewise nowhere to be found. So then, who, or what, dare we ask, is with them? The TV sputters a mix of static, white noise, and childhood images, and occasionally Ball’s camera captures a remnant or memory of youthful play and interests. Strange knocking sounds and whispers begin populating the soundtrack. What in the hell is going on here?!?!?!
Even at its most polarizing, few films have made me feel as uncertain and uneasy for such sustained periods of time. Often, Ball’s decisions are frustrating, annoying even, because he forces us to dwell in the depths of emptiness. Our mind fills in all the things he doesn’t provide for us. For some, five minutes of this will be five minutes too many. Others will stare at the screen, combing the shadows and backgrounds in a stunned silence, battling some form of temporary arrhythmia. Skinamarink, at once, doesn’t play nice with its audience, yet also trusts that same audience to completely immerse itself within the frightening world it constructs around us.
After a festival leak in the summer of 2022 sent the film out into the world ahead of its January 2023 release, Skinamarink has become something of a TikTok boogeyman. People have been sharing the film, clips of the film, and takeaways, theories, and personal reactions to the film for months. The buzz and word-of-mouth is undeniable.
With a complex sound design and surreal imagery, the movie feels nightmarish and inviting. The smoky glaze that hangs over everything is as tense and terrifying as it is alluring. We desperately try to find things we cannot see and convince ourselves things are there. We are ready to jump at the slightest noise. And in the hellscape of Skinamarink, we have no idea what actually is happening.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Lucas Paul, Dali Rose Tetreault, Ross Paul, Jaime Hill
Director: Kyle Edward Ball
Written by: Kyle Edward Ball
Release Date: January 13, 2023
IFC Midnight