IFWT #51 - Mysterious Skin (2004)

Adapted from Scott Heim's 1995 novel, cult director Gregg Araki managed to faithfully bring Heim's powerful and transgressive work of art to the big screen. After a 1990s filled with cult hits - Nowhere, The Doom Generation, Totally Fucked Up - Mysterious Skin brought Araki to the cusp of mainstream acceptance. But Araki, wasn't interested in any easy sentimentality to garner the industries respect. Instead, he brought us a complex, wrought and heart-wrenching piece of cinema that still retains his transgressive roots whilst also dealing in a subtlety that he could typically be accused of lacking previously.