Indie analog horror movie Skinamarink has pulled in over $1 million at the box office less than a week after its release. The experimental film has been pulling in big returns under a small budget, making over 67 times its original budget of just $15,000. The movie plays on common childhood fears as two young children wake up to discover that their dad has disappeared and that they are home alone. Skinamarink’s profit of $1 million may seem scant in comparison to recent blockbuster hits such as Avatar: The Way of Water or M3GAN, but it is still quite an achievement, especially considering the fact that it had a limited release, playing in just 692 theaters across the United States.
Skinamarink started as just an experimental project and ended up as a blockbuster hit. It is the creation of Canadian director Kyle Edward Ball, and was filmed in his childhood home in Edmonton, Canada. Ball wrote the script with his childhood home in mind, and shot the whole movie digitally—even the toys used in the movie are Ball’s childhood toys. In an interview with Exclaim!, Ball explained that the financing for the film was raised through online crowd-sourcing, casting was done through Facebook and Twitter, and distribution was found through Reddit. Ball admitted that part of Skinamarink’s tremendous success may have to do with TikTok, as he explained:“[Skinamarink being leaked] blew up on ‘Horror TikTok’ and then there was Twitter discourse. It was kind of neat. The movie’s not even out yet and I’m at the center of a Twitter controversy.” He went on to say, "I think it's no stretch to say that I probably am one of the luckiest filmmakers in the world right now. It's been incredible. But it's weird, because it's not like I'm famous. I'm just 'Horror Twitter' famous."
During the interview, Ball also explained that the idea for the film originally came to him in 2017, after he filmed a four-minute video that visually depicted a nightmare he had during his youth. He uploaded that video to YouTube, and watched as his channel gained rapid momentum and accumulated an impressive following. This led him to Skinamarink, as he was inspired to further explore the theme of childhood nightmares. After Skinamarink was completed, Ball submitted the film to various festivals and was ultimately accepted into Fantasia. From there, things quickly progressed as Fantasia sent it to other services, leading Shudder ultimately accept it and offer Ball a deal. The film ended up being leaked online after Ball signed, much to Ball’s dismay, but turned out to be a happy accident as it only fueled interest and excitement for the film.
Skinamarink’s box office returns are expected to grow even more during the upcoming week, and it has already accumulated a good rating of 74% on RottenTomatoes. The film is stylized to look like old footage and has almost no sound or dialogue, which builds up an overwhelming sense of dread as viewers must watch in deafening silence. The movie preys on common childhood fears and anxieties that we likely all have experienced at some point, as the movie has a deep understanding of child psychology. The two innocent children cannot correctly interpret or understand this new predicament because the world is still new to them, and they lack the necessary experience and tools to remedy it. As a result, their imagination fills in their lack of knowledge and information with terrifying alternatives, which may or may not be real.
Skinamarink stars Lucas Paul, Dali Rose Tetreault, Ross Paul, and Jaime Hill. It follows two children who wake up alone in a shape-shifting house, as windows, doors, and other objects disappear one by one. As they try to pass the time by playing games and watching cartoons, they start hearing a menacing voice which beckons them further into darkness. If you dare, checkout the terrifying official trailer below: