I Am You - Mörderische Sehnsucht

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 saw a movie today that moved me. I watched it by chance. I almost returned the movie to Netflix without watching. But, as luck would have it, I had nothing else to do, and nothing on my DVR, so I popped it in. I was in a trance the entire time. Simone North did something that is rarely done in movies today. She got a gut wrenching, honest and realistic performance. Ruth Bradley should have won an Oscar for her performance. The realistic portrayal of insanity was amazing. I was reading some reviews and was quite disappointed by their negative opinions of the movie. I am not sure what has happened to Hollywood. Why is it so one sided now? Why must everything in the movies be about portraying America as Bad and evil, the minority as the victim, the homosexual as the hero....I am okay with all of that IF THE MOVIE IS GOOD! Focus on the story, the acting....stop with the regurgitation of last years hits. Thank you Simone North for stepping out of the box and giving us some amazing performances.

This movie is a puzzler. On the second viewing, I thought it was pretty good.

I don't know why that is for certain. Is it because, on first viewing, the film makes you angry about innocence stolen and snuffed out forever? This is the natural reaction you get from watching this, but the final shot makes you feel as though the makers of it disagree or were too busy being even handed, respectful to both families,that they leached the ending of it's inherent power. You'll have to see this film to find out. I will just conclude with this point. Dear filmmakers, choose a lane. This isn't one of those stories where you can "take both sides".

Miranda Otto is the standout performance, but the entire Otto family is wildly talented, so unfairly, a genius acting performance is to be expected from her clan and as per usual, she doesn't disappoint. Guy Pearce is solid and the young actors in this film are uniformly excellent. A solid crime film, based on a true story that you won't soon forget.

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!

In 1999, in Melbourne, the Babers are a happy middle-class family, and the fifteen-year-old ballerina daughter Rachel Barber (Kate Bell) is in love with her boyfriend Manni (Khan Chittenden), who dances with her. One night, Mr. Barber (Guy Pearce) is waiting for Rachel at the tram station, but she never appears. On the next morning, Mrs. Barber (Miranda Otto) and he go to the police to report that their daughter is missing, but the police detective does not give much attention, believing Rachel is a runaway home. However, Mr.& Mrs. Baker do not give up and distribute missing person pamphlets along the tram route. Manni discloses to them that Rachel had been invited by an older woman for a confidential job to earn a great amount that would allow Rachel to buy the desired ballet slipper. Meanwhile, the unstable teenager Caroline Reid Robertson (Ruth Bradley), who has inferiority complex, low self-esteem, depression and eventual seizures due to the medicines she must take, sees Rachel and Manni making out in a bench on the street. She was a former front door neighbor to the Barber family, with divorced parents, that idolized Rachel and tried to imitate her. Her obsession increased over the years, and she plots a plan to lure Rachel and bring her to her apartment. What will happen to Rachel?

"In Her Skin" (2009) is a dramatic Australian thriller based on a true story. The screenplay is very well written, showing the story by different point of views from the family and the killer. Unfortunately, this DVD was not in my priority list of my collection and only yesterday I saw this great film. The sad story is very well-acted and despite the names of Guy Pearce, Miranda Otto and Sam Neill, the unknown Ruth Bradley steals the movie with her magnificent performance as an insane teenager. How Caroline transported Rachel's body to hide at the farmer of her father is never explained. Was her wealthy father involved? Further, the sentence of twenty years imprisoned with the right to probation after fourteen years is absolutely unfair to the Barbers, who lost a beloved fifteen-year-old daughter in a planned murder. It seems that the Australian justice system has similar problems to the Brazilian one. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Vítima Perfeita" ("The Perfect Victim")