Summary
Skinamarink presents a disturbing replay of childhood nightmares. A slow-burn masterpiece, it will leave you equally puzzled and unsettled.
Skinamarink is a horror film that is now streaming on Shudder, Roku, and Sling. Directed by Kyle Edward Ball, the film became a huge success that is widely discussed by horror fans. With a budget of just $15,000, Skinamarink managed to scare viewers and remind them of their worst fears as children.
Skinamarink Review and Plot Summary
Skinamarink follows two young siblings, Kevin and Kaylee, who wake up alone in the middle of the night and discover that their parents are gone. Further, all of the windows and doors in the house have disappeared. Kevin had previously fallen down the stairs and ended up in the hospital.
After making these discoveries, the kids hear a strange voice that begins pursuing them more intensely throughout the film. It starts by beckoning them from distant areas of the house. Kevin and Kaylee put pillows and blankets in the living room and decide to sleep there for safety. As they put on old cartoons for comfort, the voice’s commands take them away from their normal lives and into a nightmare.
Skinamarink intrigues viewers with its dark, grainy effects and indistinct objects you can’t really make out. It gives viewers flashbacks to their childhood, where they experienced strange events in their nightmares. In doing so, it takes them into the nightmare with the kids by presenting them with the same odd, otherworldly journeys they used to go on in their dreams. The difference is that in Skinamarink, the nightmare never ends.
The film becomes relatable to people in this way and dares them to attempt watching their scariest memories play out. While it’s not as violent and fast-moving as some of the other horror films that have already come out this year, it still has the potential to shake you to your core.
Is Skinamarink good?
Skinamarink is uniquely terrifying. It’s more of a slow-burn film, where the scary moments and intense action don’t happen right away. However, that works perfectly for this film because it fills viewers with a sense of dread the whole time.
With a few jump scares trickled throughout, it keeps viewers on their feet. The confusing end and unexplainable events leave viewers anxious about what really happened. The whole film, which can be entirely left up to one’s interpretation, promotes speculations and discussions of its meaning for a long time to come.
Skinamarink is worth watching for horror fans who love psychological thrillers and films that leave them with unanswered questions that they must figure out on their own. However, it might not be the movie for you if you rely on gore and immediate action to accelerate your heart rate.
But it is still a unique film with themes that most horror movies haven’t touched upon, so it should be a fun ride for any horror fan.
Skinamarink Ending Explained
Skinamarink (Credit – Shudder)
At the end of the film, there’s a text that reads, “572 days.” Kevin cries and calls out for his mother, but he is met with an odd figure that has an indistinguishable face. When Kevin asks who it is, he receives no answer. He ends up alone, unable to find his parents or be reunited with Kaylee.
Who is the strange voice?
Most things in Skinamarink can be left up to interpretation, so no theory can be proven. However, after Kevin fell down the stairs before the events of the film played out, he could have fallen into a coma.
This would explain the indistinct images he sees and the unexplainable events happening around him. The mysterious voice could be the entity that accompanies him while he suffers through the coma. Or, he could have actually died from the fall and is now in hell, where he experiences his worst nightmares, like his family disappearing and an evil presence controlling him.
The voice probably belongs to the strange figure Kevin sees at the end of the film. It refuses to speak to him face-to-face, but it likes controlling him behind the scenes and making him feel scared because he doesn’t know who is talking to him.
When the voice took away Kaylee’s eyes and mouth, it claimed that it had the power to do so. It hurt Kaylee because she begged for her parents. It probably instructed Kevin to stab himself in the eye because he was also looking for their parents and a way to escape. The voice became angry that the kids didn’t want to listen to it, so it used its powers to make them suffer more.
What does “572 days” mean at the end of Skinamarink?
The text “572 days” probably means there was a time jump at the end of the film. It could be 572 days since the voice started terrorizing the children, and the film is showing that Kevin is still stuck in this eternal nightmare.
Or, it could be 572 days since Kevin fell into his coma before he sees that final face and dies. The entity meets him with silence when he asks for his name because he wants Kevin to be scared and confused about what’s been happening all this time.
Why were people disappearing in Skinamarink?
Again, Skinamarink was meant to be questioned, and fans are rightfully speculating about what all the weirdness is about. Specifically, the parents and Kaylee disappearing could mean a lot of things. The whole film seems to be a giant nightmare that Kevin is living in, whether in real life or in a coma.
His family disappeared because the voice was able to control them and do whatever it wanted. It specifically targeted Kevin, the youngest member of the family, because he is the most vulnerable. The voice made everyone vanish from his sight for the same reason it made objects float in the air and Kevin walk on the ceiling: to terrorize him.
Kaylee disappeared in the middle of the film because the voice separated her from her brother with its commands. When Kaylee expressed her dissent from the voice’s control, it punished her by removing her eyes and mouth. The voice then told Kevin to go to the basement, where he would find her and become entrenched in an even deeper nightmare.
If Kevin is really about to die after being in a coma for 572 days, his family disappearing could symbolize that his time has come to an end and he will now be alone for his death.
What did you think of the horror film Skinamarink? Comment below.
