“Skinamarink” is a horror film directed by Kyle Edward Ball. It was released to theaters in 2022, and is now available to stream on Shudder and Hulu. This movie’s reviews are extremely divided; some people absolutely love it, and others think it’s the worst movie they’ve ever seen. Many people are unsure if this movie is worth watching, and I’m here to tell you that it isn’t.
The movie begins by introducing the two main characters Kaylee (played by Dali Rose Tetreault) and Kevin (Lucas Paul). Their parents, who are played by Jaime Hill and Ross Paul, are barely in the movie, and we never actually see any of the character’s faces. These are the only four characters in this movie,(besides the voices that Kevin and Kaylee hear.) Kevin and Kaylee wake up to their parents gone and all the ways of escaping the house have suddenly disappeared. The film follows the siblings being trapped in their house for 572 days (way too long) with no supervision until they realize they aren’t alone. A mysterious voice follows the children around the house and tells them to do terrible things, such as convincing Kevin to stab himself in the eye. We never see the monster that is terrorizing the children, and we only hear faint whispers that wouldn’t be able to be heard without the subtitles. Kaylee eventually disappears as well; leaving Kevin alone in the house with no other company than the voice.
Almost the entire 100 minute duration of this movie is spent watching the walls, ground, toys, the same cartoon on repeat, or just plain darkness. The suspense makes you feel on edge the whole time, and a very mild jumpscare only happens once or twice. I hate how there is almost no context to anything happening in the plot. It kind of feels like being dropped into the middle of a story that you know nothing about and scrambling to figure out what is happening. I think this movie could have been pretty good if it was a short film. The idea of children being stuck in a house forever with an unidentified monster is very cool to me. I actually love the concept of “Skinamarink,” but it was just way too long. The way it was filmed is very boring, and I never really knew what was going on. I found myself literally falling asleep during the movie because so much time was wasted on filming nothing. I think someone who is a big fan of suspense and paying a lot of attention to little details would like to see this movie. Very few words are said in this film, so someone who likes to interpret movies and make theories would also probably like it. But for me, it was easily forgettable and I wasn’t a fan of having to pay attention to nothing the whole time. I would rate the movie a 3/10 because it has a lot of potential but it was executed very poorly.
