It is very doubtful anyone can fully grasp the emptiness inside a child's life when searching for a reason behind his cold empty silence. Yet when dealing with the scars of child abuse, not even the greatest medical or psychological specialist will ever be able to fathom nor even comprehend the severity of the wound. This film is called " Mysterious Skin " and it is based on the highly acclaimed novel by Scott Heim. Within it's graphic pages, emerge the black images which relate the tragedy revealed in this film. The story is of the nightmarish memories of two boys, Neil and Brian (Chase Ellison and Joseph Levitt as Neil and (George Webster and Brady Corbet) who recall their early experiences with their little league coach (Bill Sage). Each boy deals with the sexual abuse in different ways. Neil becomes a prostitute, searching for unrequited love in quick sordid affairs in the back seat of cars and squalid apartments, while Brian believes he was abducted by aliens. It takes years of patience discovery, to learn what happened, but in the end, each owns a piece of the dark puzzle and with sympathetic understanding they approach the answer together. The movie encapsulates the suffering of many, but only those who have visited the pit of despair will ever understand their pain. Excellent film! ****