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Mysterious Skin tells the unsettling and devastating story of Brian and Neil, two boys who were sexually abused by their baseball coach when they eight years old. Each takes a drastically different life path as a result of their abuse. But ten years later, they must find each other in order to reconcile their traumatic past and make a future for themselves.

Brian is a wounded and vulnerable 18-year-old. He’s plagued by nightmares and is terrified of the dark as a result of his abuse. He can’t remember that five-hour period of his life, and fears he may have been the victim of an alien abduction.

The character of Neil, however, sexualizes his existence. He regularly masturbated while still prepubescent, and as a gay teenager, he becomes a hustler who eventually moves to New York because he’s “fucked every guy in town and their uncle--twice.” He also fondly remembers his abuser as “his first love.”

“It’s such a beautiful story,” stated actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays the abused Neil. “To me, it’s about the overall story. It’s not about the traumatic event itself, it’s about how the two characters go on opposite journeys as a result (of their abuse).” “The film is told from the kid’s point of view,” continued Araki. “Even when the kids are 18, the camera perspective is still that of a little child’s.”

Araki admitted there’s “haziness” to those childhood memories. “The further back (in time) you get, the more fragmented the memories are,” said Araki. “When the (characters) are eight years old, the scenes are shorter and more elliptical. As the film progresses and they get older, the scenes become longer and much more sophisticated.”

None of Araki’s previous films have ever spanned such a long time period. “As a viewer, you experience so much with the characters,” Araki stated. “You go on a journey, share their childhood and grow up with them. Through experiencing such a range of events, devastating and otherwise, you come to understand why the characters are the way they are.”

Traditionally, abused children are portrayed as wide-eyed innocents, purged of sexuality. But in Mysterious Skin, Brian’s sexuality is an inherent part of the story.

“(The character’s sexuality) was something, as a gay man, I related to,” Araki said. “There are developmental stages in our sexuality, and it was important to me to be faithful and honest about that part of the story and not white-wash it. Taking out the controversial aspects of the story would have drained all the color out of the piece.”

When bluntly asked if he’s ever experienced abuse as a child, Gordon-Levitt replied negatively. “No, I’ve never experienced anything nearly as tragic as the character that I play,” he said. “Obviously, I’ve had hurt in my life, and I’ve reacted to it in many ways. But it goes to show that the movie is about something so much greater than that, and it can appeal to people with a diverse, variety of experiences. It won’t only appeal to people who’ve experienced child abuse. It won’t only appeal to people who have paid for sex, or have been paid for sex, or who believe in space aliens. It’s about something way bigger than that.”

Brady Corbet, who plays Brian continued, “Whether people love or hate Gregg Araki movies, they are what they are because they’re supposed to be that way. Gregg’s so amazingly precise on the set, and you can feel it in his other films. They may not be for everybody. But the people they are for, they love them.”

Visit the official site for more info on Mysterious Skin

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