Mysterious Skin - Plot

Plot

Born in 1972 in Kansas, 8-year-old Neil McCormick (Chase Ellison as a boy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an adolescent) and Brian Lackey (George Webster and Brady Corbet) are sexually abused by their baseball coach (Bill Sage). Both boys are targets for abuse due to their dysfunctional families: Neil's single mother (Elizabeth Shue) is neglectful and preoccupied with a string of boyfriends, while Brian's parents are on the verge of divorce.

Neil showed homosexual proclivities at an early age—he was fascinated with male models depicted in his mother's Playgirl magazines. He interprets the coach's abuse as an initiation into sexuality and becomes sexually compulsive, being particularly attracted to middle-aged men. Eventually Neil leaves home, drifts into petty crime, and becomes a prostitute in New York City. His friend Wendy (Michelle Trachtenberg), who harbors an unrequited crush, describes Neil as having not a heart, but "a bottomless black hole."

Brian reacts to the abuse by developing psychogenic amnesia and forgetting the events. He remembers waiting for his parents to drive him home from a baseball game, followed by a gap of several hours after which he regained consciousness, bloodied and hiding under the crawl space of his home. For many years Brian suffers from chronic nose bleeds and bed-wetting. In his teen years, Brian becomes nerdy and withdrawn, perceived by others as nearly asexual. He has unsettling recurring dreams about being touched by a strange, bluish hand. These odd dreams lead Brian to suspect that he and another boy may have been abducted by aliens. At the age of 18, Brian meets a young woman named Avalyn (Mary Lynn Rajskub) who also believes she was abducted by aliens. They begin to form a fragile friendship; though, when she takes a romantic interest in Brian and touches him sexually, he reacts with intense panic and refuses to speak to her again.

While trying to untangle his confused memories, Brian sees a photo of his childhood baseball team, recognizing a young Neil as the boy from his bizarre dreams. Taking the initiative to meet his former teammate, Brian instead meets Neil's friend Eric (Jeff Licon), and through him learns about their common acquaintance. After being beaten and raped by a trick, Neil leaves New York City and returns home. Eventually, the two young men meet for the first time in over a decade. After breaking into the home that was previously rented by the baseball coach, Neil explains how the coach groomed both boys to make the abuse seem normal and acceptable, and how a bluish porch light shining through the bedroom window gave the abusive incidents an eerie atmosphere. Brian breaks down and collapses into Neil's arms.