Certain topics  in this case pedophilia  are very tricky when it comes to an adaptation on screen: it's very easy to go over the top and make something purely shocking; that's probably the biggest challenge, simply trying to portray the story without annihilating the audience. There are a few good examples of this, perhaps the "safe" ones: Brockeback Mountain, Philadelphia or Crash, seem to have found a balance between the delicacy of the topics and the need to take it to the audience in an effective, powerful, way.<br /><br />In Mysterious skin we're pushed deep into the lives of Neil (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Brian (Brady Corbet), two young men with a common background, although they don't know it. Neil is the great character of the picture, partly because it is he that goes on the strangest and more dangerous journey, or simply because of Levitt's performance: his strangeness in every aspect of life, without ever being numb or absent; the way he wears his clothes and his body, always hitching and always agitated; simply the look on his face, smart but lost. Throughout the movie we see the endless encounters that Neil has, going deeper in each one,and continuously loosing himself. It comes to a point where death seems to be near by.<br /><br />Maybe it's just a little over the top. Maybe there was no other way. I remember that - in quite a childish way - creeping back from the theater, towards ordinary life, seemed a relief: not having to deal with that weigh anymore, feeling slightly sick or oppressed by life, finally done with that journey under the skin