In Her Skin

This a powerful movie with a long lasting impression. I think Simone did a fantastic job with this story. She kept to the actual events of what happened to Rachel, her family, friends as well as Caroline without glorifying it, sugar coating it and hollywoodising it. It is real and it is raw. This is what happened and this is how the people involved experienced it. The acting is fantastic, the way the scenes flow and the cinematography is excellent. Along with the true story there are messages to take from it, one being involved and recognizing mental illness, as we know is a massive and growing problem in the community.

I absolutely loved this film. I was totally gripped start to finish.

The mix of surreal camera work and character chapters made the horrific subject matter all then more intense and difficult to deal with, as it should be. The story itself suited the surreal elements that reflected the characters states of mind. All of these mixed elements create a bizarre world inside a real one, which enables the viewer to, to some extent, empathize and imagine the kind of horrors that the people these characters are based on must gone through.

Ruth Bradley, who plays Caroline is absolutely astonishing. She switches between creating terror or sympathy and is nothing short of completely convincing.

Knowing this is based on a true tragedy it's difficult to know how to rate a film so graphically depicting the initial terror of a beautiful teenage girl's disappearance, and consequent portrayal of her murder, including a detailed representation of the perpetrator's state of mind and mentally disturbed motive. To that end, Ruth Bradley as Caroline Reid is a standout.

Notwithstanding the perfectly understated performances by several high profile leads and noteworthy cameos, not to mention the quality of production, one still ponders what purpose such a heart wrenching movie serves. One such moment occurs when the still missing Rachel Barber's death dawns on her father, played by Guy Pearce, inducing a panic attack. Another when Caroline Reid's own mother (Rebecca Gibney) exclaims 'she's always been horrible'.

There is nothing uplifting about this film. As a parent it is the ultimate nightmare. Yet In Her Skin is compelling all the same.

Perhaps the value is recognizing that ignoring the Caroline Reid's of this world comes at society's peril. And whilst the bulk of sympathy naturally lay with the murdered teenager's parents, the sense of helplessness and horror experienced by the perpetrator's parents is also a terrible burden to carry.

The title it played in Germany at the Fantasy Filmfest. A very strange little movie, that is very dark and will very likely appall a lot of people (if they don't know what they're in for especially), because of it's theme, but also because of it's graphic nature (at times, not that often, but still quite disturbing).

The actors involved in here are all good, Guy Pearce giving a better performance (there must be a better script at hand I reckon) than in "Don't be afraid of the Dark". One of our lead actresses has to go to really tough places and she manages to do so very convincingly. Not for everyone and I'm not sure "enjoy" would be the right word to use after watching it, but this is a really good work of art!

A film with many names. "I am you" originally, turned to "In her skin" and in other countries the rather over used and not very original "Missing".

Already in the opening scene you realize this is film which will be pleasant on your eyes. A great opening scene! Beautifully shot, great camera movements, and great setting of emotional feelings, as well as colors and sounds. This is a film which is eye candy, though it's a bleak true story.

The film starts with a young daughter, Rachel, going missing on her way from dance practice. The parents know that this is serious, but as always, the police doesn't. Then we tend to another story, about Caroline, which has a mental illness, which affects not only the near family.

The film's problem is that the stories are starting over and over in the beginning and takes away the tension. This doesn't help the story telling. Too bad, because there's such an amount of talent here. I think a more traditional storyline would have done different. Without this, the film would have gotten a better score. Still a great story, but the jumping doesn't allow a proper story building for this to become a classic.

The mother of Caroline and her crying didn't convince me, but the cast is doing a great job. Amazing acting. A-class. Ruth Bradley is amazing in her role as Caroline.

The film reminded me of "Black swan" in more than one way. Both the mental illness, the ballet dancing and the overall quality. Well picked score, heavy on emotion. A great Film, and one if the better Australian films I've seen.