a beautiful thing--like glass, like gossamer, like a mimosa bloom--surrounded by thistles

These words are my attempt to describe Gregg Araki's latest film Mysterious Skin, based on the novel by Scott Heim. It is such a lush, gorgeous film about such tragic and disturbing things that you almost wish it was about alien abduction. And the soundtrack by ambient legends Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd creates an ethereal mood that complements the lushness and underlying grit of the film.