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"Skinamarink": Social media reactions to the viral horror sensation

Hogan Short
Hogan Short
|
Feb 2 2023, 4:30 pm
"Skinamarink": Social media reactions to the viral horror sensation
@ifcfilms/Instagram | khak/Shutterstock

“In this house…”

If you’ve never heard of Skinamarink, it’s likely because you’re not a horror buff.

This scary new movie was written and directed in Edmonton by a local filmmaker (Kyle Edward Ball) with a very simple and odd premise. Two children wake up during the night to discover that they cannot find their father, and as if that wasn’t enough, all of the windows, doors, and other objects in the house seem to have inexplicably disappeared.

It’s one of the most-talked-about movies of the year, which is amazing for an Alberta-made film. To some, it’s one of the worst, and to others, it’s one of the best movies of 2022.

The film premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival andĀ was then screened at several other festivals. Perhaps to the film’s benefit, the digital file was accidentally leaked and it caused the buzz-worthy movie to be pirated and illegally streamed across multiple platforms.

The small film’s style is experiential, and with enough lingering creepiness and perfectly timed jump scares, this pirating caused an immeasurable wave of word of mouth, which led theatres across North America to screen it.

Skinamarink was made with just $15,000 (mostly crowdfunded) and has since grossed nearly two million dollars.

The hype, combined with the scares, the required patience, and the odd nature of the subject matter, led to a very mixed audience reaction. Some have called it the scariest movie ever made, while others feel it is excruciatingly boring (which led to mass walkouts). Like sitting in a dark hallway with your back turned to a pitch-black basement, both reactions seemed right. It either scared you on an instinctual level, or you just didn’t get it.

Without giving too much away, there is a narrative structure here. Many shots linger on static shots of unknown people, in dark rooms with static playing, or in a hallway while someone talks on the phone. There are voices ā€” sometimes muffled, sometimes clear, sometimes subtitled, and sometimes not.

The story is about something, and like the best experiential films (and art, in general), that something is in the eye of the viewer — if you’re brave enough to keep them open. To some, this movie is about the fear of an alcoholic father. To others, this is about the psyche of a child and how their outside world can be terrifying and eliminating in the wake of abuse. To many, it has become a tale about the LGBTQ2S+ experience and dealing with the uncertainty of it in an unaccepting household.

And maybe to you, it’s just about the fear of being in the dark, especially as a kid, when rooms felt bigger and imaginations had an easier way of taking a grip on us.

Regardless of what you thought of the movie, or if you’ll ever be brave enough to watch it, the social media reactions to the experience have been passionate.

Movie theatres (and indie cinema, in general) are in trouble, but this is a great sign that the virality of something original can still turn into a success story. Here’s hoping the next movie Kyle Edward Ball makes has the same care for the craft, and with any luck, the same sense of indescribable terror.

Skinamarink makes its Canadian streaming debut today (February 2) on Shudder.

Here are some of the best social media reactions to Skinamarink.

 

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