Mysterious Skin Guide

Eventually, the alien has to turn back into a man. And when it does, all you have left is the person sitting next to you on the bed, holding your hand in the falling snow.

Upon release, Mysterious Skin was slapped with an NC-17 rating (later reduced to an unrated cut after appeal) primarily for the frank depiction of adolescent sexuality. It is a film that has been banned, debated, and relegated to the margins of "difficult cinema." Yet, its influence on the "sad indie" wave of the 2010s is undeniable. You can see its DNA in films like Moonlight (another story of a boy turned inward by abuse) and Short Term 12 . Mysterious Skin