Skinamarink (2023) spoiler free review

An experimental film is a mode of filmmaking that explores non-narrative forms and breaks the traditional way of cinema. Skinamarink is a Canadian experimental horror movie written and directed by Kyle Edward Ball in his directorial debut. It premiered at the 26th Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal on July 2022, but due to technical issues in other film festival the film got leaked online gaining popularity in social media. The film is set to have a theatrical limited release on January 13, 2023 and later on the year on the horror streaming service Shudder.

Two children wake up in the middle of the night to find their father is missing, and all the windows and doors in their home have vanished.

Film synopsis

The cast includes the four members of the family being Lucas Paul as Kevin, a four-year-old, Dali Rose Tetreault as Kaylee, a six-year-old, Ross Paul as Kevin and Kaylee’s father, and Jaime Hill as Kevin and Kaylee’s mother. We never get to see their faces and their voices are mostly whispers. The director Kyle Edward Ball got inspiration from the most recurrent tropes in nightmares submitted by his subscribes in his youtube channel Bitesized Nightmares.

My opinion

Skinamarink has a running time of 1 hour and 40 minutes that feels like 3 hours. This is the type of film that is not for everyone and will test the viewer’s patience. The shots jumps to one to another with not real sequence, sometimes being as long as 2 minutes and sometimes just seconds. We never get to see the characters’ faces, we only hear their voices as whispers from time to time. The whole film is set to be seeing from the perspective of a child, this includes the height of the camera and the main subject of the film: the fear of the dark.

This horror film is meant to be watched in a dark room and requires the complete attention of the viewer. If you aren’t immersed into the story a sensation of tediousness will overwhelm you. At moments your mind will be tricked into doubting if something is there or not in the darkness when the camera just stays there looking into the abyss that the dark halls of the house create. As an audience, you don’t get to see the house only pieces and wall corners. All of this combined brings another primal human fear: the fear of the unknown.

This experimental horror film will play with your mind and will force you to confront the fears that you could have as a child. The fear of darkness and the unknown has been seen before in horror films but is not always that effective. The silence and occasional cartoons background music will leave you waiting for the jump scare that never comes. But once again, this is not a horror film for everyone but you will know as soon as the film starts if you will be absorbed by the darkness or if you’re staying out.