Skinamarink

By the end I was more bored than frightened.

It’s an unsettling Rorschach test with a haunting ending that will settle in the pit of your stomach like a stone. But it can be a polarizing experience that pushes the limits of patience.

Taps into a primal fear of a child waking up in the night finding the things they take comfort (home, toys, cartoons) twisted into something nightmarish in the dark.

It's only January, but this might be the most divisive horror movie of 2023 if people actually go see it. I might hate it myself; it's kind of hard to tell.

The images appear to be the tip of an iceberg, but there’s no iceberg beneath them.

As impressive as this experiment in terror can be, it’s too sparse to earn its runtime.

A stunning feature, Ball crafted a uniquely scary and unsettling debut. Few films in 2023 will be as scary as Skinamarink, and fewer will feel as technically proficient.

Skinamarink is a movie where nothing happens, literally, and reaches its overly long runtime by just repeating scenes over and over for no rhyme or reason.

As you watch and descend further into its ghastly world, you end up living through a very singular experience, perfectly captured by Ball, but it’s without a doubt a frustrating, at times boring watch.

A film I admire more than I actually like, Skinamarink's experimental format will confound most viewers, while absolutely terrifying others.