Really beautiful cinematography here, with the gorgeous billowing waves of amber wheat under azure skies that go on forever. The pacing is slow and the story is ambiguous, but I liked the themes of how the world is perceived as a child, and the inevitable time when the illusions of childhood are set aside. Who are the monsters in life, it seems to ask, the vampires of our horror stories, or people who abuse the powerless and wage war, despite this beautiful world all around them? It's ambitious and artistic, but the myriad subplots in its story didn't quite keep up for me.

Jeremy Cooper plays Seth Dove, an impressionable and imaginative youngster living in the American prairies of the 1950s. He comes to believe that a mysterious local English widow named Dolphin Blue (Lindsay Duncan) must be a vampire, based on what his father Luke (Duncan Fraser) has related to him. (The old man is a fan of pulp novels.) Therefore, Seth becomes alarmed when his older brother Cameron (Viggo Mortensen),a military veteran, falls in love with the widow.

"The Reflecting Skin" is a striking, unusual film, marking the filmmaking debut for Philip Ridley, a British playwright, author, and screenwriter. It's definitely not to all tastes, and certainly not for people expecting a traditional horror film. It depicts a stark world, seen through this childs' eyes, in which adults are often extremely messed up and children are victimized. Ridley's dialogue is literate and amusing, and the actors do seem to be enjoying themselves reciting these lines. The atmosphere is very impressive, with Ridley taking advantage of all these open spaces and endless fields of yellow. Dick Pope did the very efficient cinematography. Another memorable element is the music score by Nick Bicat. It's haunting and helps to draw you into this story that is sure to get under the skin of some of its viewers.

Fans of Mortensen should be aware that he doesn't show up for over 40 minutes, but he provides an engaging presence as a young man with little patience for his kid brother. Duncan is absolutely amazing and her character truly does seem to be living in some other universe. Sheila Moore chews the scenery as the shrewish Dove mother, Canadian character actor Fraser is fine as the father with a grim, sordid past, and young Cooper offers a believable performance.

Consistently unpredictable, "The Reflecting Skin" does have a fair bit going for it, and it's worth a look for buffs searching for something different and interesting.

Seven out of 10.

It's 1950s in rural America. 8 year old Seth Dove plays a prank exploding a frog on his reclusive English neighbor Dolphin Blue. His mother forces him to go apologize to her. His father tells him about vampires. Dolphin tells the boy that she is 200 years old. His friend Eben disappears. He warns his other friend Kim and both break into Dolphin's home. He finds Eben's body in the well. His father was once caught by Sheriff Ticker kissing a 17 year old boy. After being threatened with an investigation, his father sets himself on fire. His older brother Cameron (Viggo Mortensen) returns from the military. Cameron starts to get involved with Dolphin despite Seth warning him that she's a vampire. There is also a group of ominous men in a black Cadillac.

I see this more as a surreal horror. It's not necessarily related to anything close to reality. I like the black color scheme and the overtly unreal style. I like Seth's warped understanding of vampires and angels. The big thing that doesn't make sense is his understanding of the men in the car. I don't know why he doesn't tell the sheriff about them. I don't know what he means when he says "No, not yet". Does he want to take a ride in the future? I just don't know what the men in the black car mean to him. It doesn't seem like it's well thought out. Some of the dialog can also be written better. The movie has an interesting look but the writing can be better.