SKINAMARINK (2023) REVIEW

Skinamarink (2022) is a nuance horror film directed by Kyle Edward Ball in association with Mutiny Pictures which follows the story of two children waking up in the middle of a night to discover their father missing, as well as all of the windows and doors in their home mysteriously vanishing. the atmosphere in this movie down the last grain placed on the screen is absolutely incredible- but also flawed in practice. the movies concept and the aesthetics portrayed in this movie are a new take to horror films I hadn't seen done on such a big scale before, but it also suffers from it. And I really hate to say it, I want to love this movie, and I do to an extent, but there are long stretched od the movie that leave you confused in frustrating ways, and some empty room scenes drag on a bit too long. the atmospheric sound design is what helps keep the story compelling, but barely. it feels like for every praise I have, there's another flaw I unfortunately have to comment on. at the end of the film, I did overall enjoy it and again, the way nearly every shot was framed and decorated with echoing, haunting sounds is like watching a lost cam footage of a haunted house- but with a twist. cartoons are constantly haunting the film in different shots, and the camera is always uncomfortably placed in slightly awkward places paired with the very grainy, worn . and the protagonists being these two clueless children who have no idea about how dire there situation is makes it all the more difficult to sit through- especially in the most impactful parts of the movie. where the kids have to suffer through some sort of pain that no child should ever go through, let alone a paranormal one. the "jumpscares" in this film are lackluster (I counted like 5 or 6) but when they hit, they usually hit hard. the whole film is about building immense anticipation and fear, and it kinda does that well? sometimes you think you're about to get shocked to the core by something but it just pans to another bland shot of a rooms roof or something similar. but that's a nitpick, I enjoy a bunch of the shots in this film. I remember jumping twice during the films duration, the segments where you hear one of the family members enduring some sort of pain making me shiver from the horrid nature of the situation. these two children end up trapped alone, and some sort of demon has taken away all of the windows and doors. and to my interpretation, they are trapped in a time loop so this entity can "play." and right at the end, when you think you're going to get jumpscared at the last prolonged moment, it doesn't. the credits roll. there's nothing else. and that's how the movie wants you to feel. confused, scared, and desperately grasping for answers. its very similar to how these children must feel if you think about it, unable to fully grasp what is going on. cinematography: (a generous) 6/10 plot: 7/10 sound design: 10/10 acting: 9/10 execution of story: 5/10 overall, I'm sorry to say, but I'm mixed. I'm very mixed, like a lot of other people who have watched this film. it's unsettling sure, it has its scary moments, fine, but overall? this film wasn't that scary for me outside of the aforementioned moments and jumpscares. this movie is insanely lackluster yet manages to tell a super compelling story and had the best sound design I had ever seen in a film so far. this movie is a mess, but it shows immense promise for the future of film making. also props to Kyle Edward Ball for making an incredibly new and unique take on horror films. overall rating: 6/10 it was confusing to understand this movie at first, but I would genuinely watch it again and try to craft my own theories of sorts :D