What Is The Deal With Kyle Edward Ball’s ‘Skinamarink’?

A retrospective look at one of the most talked about nouveau-horror films of this year.

Every year, there always arrives a selection of films that surpass our expectations and even exceeded them and surprise us in more facets than they should. On paper, Top Gun: Maverick could have been just another legacy sequel by trying to recapture the 80’s macho-masculinity aestheticism that has struck a chord with so many since its release in 1986. However, nobody expected the film to strike such a nice balance between heartwarming charismatic melodramatics with awe-inspiring technical stunt work and emphasis on spectacle. Though action and blockbusters moviegoers can presumably complain about the plethora of problems within the Marvel Cinematic Universe as of late, there are still many more action movies on the horizon that understand what moviegoers and casual audiences want from an action blockbuster, an exciting pulse-pounding immersive experience with dedicate love to the craft of their genre. And living in a post-COVID-19 world, more and more audiences gravitate towards those. Many cannot wait for both John Wick: Chapter 4 and Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 and even Oppenheimer because of this necessity. However, while it is exciting to see filmmakers display their love through spectacular action set pieces with an emphasis on practicality in the stunt-choreography, no genre experiences nearly yearly shifts quite like the horror genre, and with Skinamarink taking the world by storm, it is certainly a good time to be a horror fan.

Skinamarink is the theatrical debut film from Canadian filmmaker Kyle Edward Ball and tells the “story” of two kids isolated in an abandoned home where a demon seemingly haunts them. The demon slowly takes away their ability to escape by mysteriously removing their doors and windows one by one, trapping them in this pitch black fever dream. The film had an unfortunate circumstance, after being leaked online and circulating through genre film festivals, many fans clamoring for the film’s release due to its ominous trailer and unknown release date could finally see the film. With this, the film became an overnight phenomenon and was able to not only be picked up by IFC Midnight and Shutter for its digital streaming distributor but was given the opportunity to be screened in regular theater chains like AMC or Regal. Watching this happen was both unfortunate, but also incredibly surreal. Seeing this tiny horror film become a sensation across many social media platforms and physical word of mouth from others made me giddy as a horror fan. However, Skinamarink is not what it seems just from a plot synopsis.

Skinamarink’s 100-minute runtime is presented in an experimental form for a horror film. Sure, you see bits and pieces of characters’ backs and physical appearance, but you never see anyone’s face. How the film is presented through images of ceilings, hallways, or doorframes with the audio doing the heavy lifting of conveying the dialogue to the audience, along with the horrifying imagery. Skinamarink feels like a once-in-a-lifetime film and blows my mind upon repeated viewings that a concept so basic is so innovative and even more bone-chilling than some of the gory titles horror fans see in theaters. Ball creates a new atmosphere seen in films like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity where it creates an illusion in the audience watching the film that there is a figure in the darkness and makes the film even more terrifying. The lingering shots of black darkness create a tense and emotional core because while the film does deliver on its less than a handful of jump scares, the scares are through the film’s audio and presentation. And not only that, the film is presented with an old film-grain style, with its moving pixels creating the feeling that something lurks on the other side. Going back to the sound in Skinamarink is nerve-racking, with its ominous silence just itching to display another dialogue scene or even terrifying jump scare, it is one of those films that succeed simply in playing with genre expectations, by delivering a “less is more” effective storytelling and viewing experience, not only becoming a word of mouth on its frightful scares but having seen something different in the horror realm in the current trend of the genre.

There truly is not a better time to be a horror fan than right now. Filmmakers understand what audiences want from the genre, and can create it simply emphasizing genre thrills and delving weird mythology of the stories being told. With films like Knock At The Cabin and M3egan dominating box office charts, and even with a film that is not for anyone like Skinamarink displaying abstract imagery to audiences; there is clearly more room for the genre to take bold new steps into uncharted territory. And within the age of word of mouth such as the success of Daniel’s Everything, Everywhere All At Once is an inspiring achievement for young filmmakers, especially for genre and horror ones specifically right now.