Majorthebys Charming and brutal

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Danii Disaster Quite a typical movie; nothing unique about it. It's been done before - there are several movies with the same premise out there that are more griping, more elaborate, more realistic, and much better paced.It was not bad at all, but nothing spectacular, either. I found it difficult to believe that a suburban family of limited means and probably below-average IQ were able to come up with such an elaborate identity-theft plan. The bad guy just didn't have what it takes to pass for a twisted genius.The wives and the kids were great, but I thought the husbands were miscast. Frankly, I think they should have swapped places. The bad guy would have been more convincing as the protagonist and vice versa.The antagonist's wife was an interesting character thought, and I feel it should have been explored to a greater extent; they could have done a lot more with it.Selma Blair was a delight to watch, even though her character was dull and a bit one-dimensional (it was written that way; not the actress's fault). Kind of reminded me of "Dead Calm" with Nicole Kidman (also a very average movie with a similar plot) - she was playing the same exact character.Like I said, a rather forgettable movie that lacks depth and substance, but it's not unwatchable, so, if you have nothing better to do, go ahead and see it.

MrGKB ...despite a somewhat suspect plot that raises a few too many questions that aren't satisfactorily addressed, "In Their Skin" manages to transcend its flaws to deliver a reasonably creepy psycho-thriller. Primarily it's the third act where everything falls apart. Premise: a young yuppie family has retreated to a summer home to work through the grief of losing a daughter, only to be tormented by an invasive mirror family of head cases who want to usurp their identities. We get to know our protagonists in Act I, we meet the antagonists in Act II, and things play out in the closing Act III. All well and good; classic Syd Field stuff. The cast is mostly on the ball, the lensing and lighting well done, effective helming from its tyro director/co-writer; there's much to like in this film.However, as mentioned, things fall apart as what started out as a slow- burning tension builder devolves into a disappointingly routine assault on our protagonists, replete with numerous stupid moves on the part of characters who've apparently never seen movies like this one before. The most egregious failures involve a lack of explanation/willing suspension of disbelief concerning the antagonist "family." They simply don't behave like real people; they're authorial constructs only. They have no real background, no internal consistency, and it doesn't take an audience long to figure out they have no likely future, either. One can only wonder how this trio's leader subverted his followers into his dementia.Ultimately, "In Their Skin" fails to pack the punch of progenitors like "Funny Games" or "Last House on the Left." It's not a terrible watch, but it's far from essential, or even recommended. Check out one of the two I just mentioned instead.

rjwilli1414 The only difference between this movie and Funny Games is in this movie it is a psycho family, some nudity and sex scenes and a few more gunshots. Other than that I couldn't believe this movie script didn't get thrown out as a complete knock off of Funny Games.Now if you have not seen Funny Games, then I suggest you pick your villain. If you want to see two psycho young men torture a normal wealthy family, go see Funny Games. If you want to see a psycho lower class family torture a normal wealthy family, see this movie.Both movies have great casts and great acting but I would have to give this film a slight edge in that category. However, when it comes to the disturbingly psychopathic factor in the villains, I give that edge to Funny Games.All in all, don't waste your time like I did with this movie if you have seen Funny Games. Definitely a good experience I imagine for those who haven't.

Christian In Their Skin (formerly "Replicas") is Regimbal's directorial debut, but armed with a strong cast and a solid screenplay, he creates a web of worthwhile scenes that will stick with the viewer. Perhaps misguidedly toying with the horror genre early in the film, he chooses the focus on the drama, the characters and story and let you decide if you are endeared, amused, scared, uneasy, entertained or otherwise.Regimbal stays with this beautiful ambiguity for most of the feature and gets fine-tuned performances from his story and character-driven cast that allows for the "replicas" to reveal themselves slowly, but surely. The suspense is high and the dark humour as well. A beautiful piece with a slow burn pace. We left the Montreal FantAsia screening and director Q&A with more questions than answers, but with deep satisfaction of exploring a compelling concept with complexity, dexterity and depth.