The title it played in Germany at the Fantasy Filmfest. A very strange little movie, that is very dark and will very likely appall a lot of people (if they don't know what they're in for especially), because of it's theme, but also because of it's graphic nature (at times, not that often, but still quite disturbing).The actors involved in here are all good, Guy Pearce giving a better performance (there must be a better script at hand I reckon) than in "Don't be afraid of the Dark". One of our lead actresses has to go to really tough places and she manages to do so very convincingly. Not for everyone and I'm not sure "enjoy" would be the right word to use after watching it, but this is a really good work of art!

It's based on real events from the 1990s in Melbourne and is quite well done. Ruth Bradley is Caroline, a former baby sitter for a middle-class couple, Guy Pearce and Miranda Otto. The eldest of the couple's children is Rachel, played by Kate Bell. Rachel is only in her mid-teens but has everything a girl requires -- beauty, curiosity, love, and talent. One can only gasp at her impeccable entre chats.Ruth Bradley couldn't have been a better choice for the role of the half-mad and insanely envious Caroline, who murders Rachel and buries her body on a farm. Bradley isn't ugly. The movie isn't that simple minded. But her features are plain, as they are with most of us, and there is only the hint of the demonic in her eyes. Of course she's made up to look more ordinary than she is, what with her stringy hair and pale face. She's a competent actress as well.And her figure is that of a walking survival system. She's chubby all over, which would help her during a famine, and her breasts are over-sized and pendulous. She could reproduce to beat the band. Totally unattractive in today's world of models, but the dream of a Victorian gentleman or a Neanderthal, a Venus of Willendorf.Psychologically, however, she's full of problems, aside from the distress over cosmetic issues. She's sloppy, an epileptic, and suffers from bouts of depression. And there are moments when she is as brutal as a five-year-old child. It's a complex portrait. The murder is brutal and graphic. She strangles the gorgeous young Rachel and mutilates the body but there's an element of helplessness about her most heinous acts.Pearce and Otto, as Rachel's parents, don't have very much to do but the viewer is at least spared an excess of hysteria as they persistently prod the police to investigate what they believe is Rachel's disappearance and the cops think is a simple case of a runaway.Sam Neill is Caroline's estranged and vitiated father who loves his crazy daughter but is depressed and at his wit's end. When he's visited by the police and asked if his daughter might have had something to do with Rachel's disappearance, he pauses and replies, "In light of what you've just said, I have to say I'm deeply concerned." Neill's performance is a gem. His forte is thoughtfulness rather than strength and the role plays directly into his talents.Women like Caroline who are overdeveloped and unattractive according to the norms established by Vogue and Cosmopolitan models have reason for their unhappiness. From an evolutionary point of view, what females have traditionally had to offer is beauty, youth, and fecundity. Unattractive men can compensate by being powerful or rich. For millions of years, females have had to be selective about their mating. They're born with all the eggs they're ever going to have, about three hundred, and every pregnancy represents an enormous investment. The best mate is one who is both potent and protective. A woman who is born without the most desirable attributes has good reason to be depressed, though, as if in compensation, there are always males available who are not handsome, powerful, or rich. Caroline's difficulties included not only an elephantine figure but a lack of patience.It's not without weaknesses: sluggish in parts, and a solution too quickly arrived at. We never get to see much development in Rachel's character. In any case, this is a splendidly executed film, not just by the performers but by the photographer and the writer/director, Simone North. A lot of talent on display here. Good on them.

Based on a true story of a 15 year old Rachel Barber's abduction in Australia, In Her Skin is disturbing to say the least. The movie chronicles the real events that happened before, after, and during this tragic abduction and the many different lives it touched.Rachel Barber goes missing and everyone that knew her knew something was amiss but the Barber family was forced to wait 48 hours before the police would get involved. As her parents frantically look for her and blanket the neighborhood with pictures, we get to see glimpses of her past and the pasts of many people involved in this case .It soon unfolds and the truth is revealed in this psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat.Guy Pearce and Miranda Otto translate incredible emotion and anger as Rachel's parents but for me the standout here was Ruth Bradley as Caroline Reid. Sam Neill also played an overwhelmed, distant parent of Caroline very well as this movie moves swiftly and smoothly through the horrifying truth of this well directed and acted film.I watched this film on demand and was impressed with the overall production. In Her Skin reminded me a lot of The Lovely Bones, which I also enjoyed, that starred Mark Wahlberg. This movie is definitely worth a watch in my opinion

I could hardly get through this film, I had to hit pause several times and get it together. Having never heard of this gut-wrenching story until now, it was very saddening to read the synopsis (parents of a missing girl launch a frantic search for their daughter not knowing that her former babysitter has killed her. This is a true story) and then proceed to watch the film. I happened upon the movie while channel surfing and caught the scene where it looked like a girl (in a hospital bed) was being encouraged by an older man (played by Sam Neil) to talk to another man who was out of the frame but still visible. I pressed the info. button and the afore mentioned synopsis showed up. From the synopsis, I formed an opinion that the girl on the bed was either about to die and was being pumped for information or that she was the mother of the missing child. (BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!) Interested in the film, I switched to another channel to keep the spoilers at bay then I did a search for the movie to see if it would air at another date so I could watch it from the beginning, set it to record and forgot all about it. I found the film on my DVR two days later and proceeded to watch it. Three things that stood out to me were as follows: The negligence of the local police, the supernatural power of love and bond in the Barber family (the mother knew her daughter wasn't dead initially when she went missing ---if the police had issued an AMBER alert they would have found her--- and the father eerily almost suffocated from an asthma attack after which he confirmed Rachel's death ---Rachel was suffocated to death---) and failure of society to pay attention to such a psychotic person as Caroline Reed who according to the film suffers from epilepsy, bouts of depression, severe envy and self-loathing. Those scenes, if you choose to watch the film will be hard to watch. Then, at the very end when Rachel's younger sister comes to her dad (played by Guy Pearce) and tells him that it's her fault her sister is dead because she is the reason her family knew the Reeds in the first place and her father's response to her. That was such a powerful scene. It's psychologically multi-dimensional film-making at its best in the sense that you experience what the victim is feeling how she lived her life at the same time you experience what the perpetrator is feeling and how she lived her life, you see the parents on both sides, the children and you get to experience how all these people are feeling while all of this is going on.Yes, we have seen and read horrific tales of child abductions and killings in the past and yes we've seen them made into films many times before but this film is different. This is the type of true-story movie that will haunt you long after you've watched it. It's the kind of story that would make you want to reach out to the parents and family of Rachel Barber (the 15 yr old girl who was abducted and killed) and extend your condolences. It's the kind of film that will make you scream at the screen right before the end credits role revealing that Caroline Reed (the psychotic killer) will be eligible for parole in the year 2013. It is the kind of film that will have you break down in tears when the picture of the real Rachel Barber (1983-1999) is shown in her obituary right before the screen fades to black.