Horror Without Escape Routes

MOVIE REVIEWS
Bare Skin
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Genre: Psychological Horror, Anthology
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 2h 22m
Director(s): Mico Montes
Writer(s): Mico Montes
Cast: Rachel Alig, Torrey B. Lawrence, Ariana Livingston, Ryan Wayne, Avery Norris
Where to Watch: on UK digital now

RAVING REVIEW: Is healing still possible once vulnerability becomes mandatory? BARE SKIN begins with the idea of safety, but never lets the viewer forget just how unstable that idea is. The movie quickly creates a space that conveys concern and healing, only to subtly poison it. The thing that makes it so disturbing isn’t the amount of blood or scares, but the gradual understanding that showing what you feel can be as risky as being in physical danger, and when people in charge aren’t held back from doing whatever they want.

Written and directed by Mico Montes in his first feature film, BARE SKIN is composed of separate stories, all set around a group therapy session in which people who have suffered serious injuries are told to deal with what happened to them together. The basic setup, in a room, a person leading the group, activities to break down people’s defences, is quite familiar; however, the film soon makes clear it’s not interested in people feeling better, but in what happens when people are forced to share. Montes knows that psychological horror is at its best when the audience feels as stuck as the characters in the film, and the constricted structure ensures there’s no space for them to move.

Instead of seeing the anthology style as a series of disconnected parts, BARE SKIN uses it to heighten the pressure. Every story flows into the next, not with surprises, but by steadily increasing a feeling of fear. The characters’ experiences reflect and intersect in ways that seem increasingly deliberate, turning chance into something that seems meant to be. The more they talk, the less secure the room seems, and the film's main worry stems from this loss of faith.

The acting really supports the film's emotion, most notably Rachel Alig as Dr. Hedonia, whose character carefully balances power and uncertainty. Alig plays the part with a restrained calm, never revealing her intentions prematurely, and letting the audience put their own hopes into what she’s doing. Whether she is there to help or to manipulate the situation is a question the film doesn’t want to answer, and that refusal is one of its best qualities.

All the actors commit to the openness the story needs. Torrey B. Lawrence and Ariana Livingston give performances that avoid over-the-topness, presenting their characters’ suffering as awkwardness rather than exhibition. The film doesn’t ask them to show trauma to please the audience. Instead, it puts them in places where being quiet feels as important as speaking, and holding back makes their moments of letting go of emotion much more powerful.

What BARE SKIN does best is question the idea of people being healed together, without making it seem like the perfect solution. Group therapy is usually shown on screen as either a miracle or as harmless, but Montes treats it as a system that can make harm worse if it isn’t done carefully. The film hints that being near someone doesn’t mean you will understand them, and that reliving injuries in public places can cause new injuries rather than heal old ones. This subject matter gives the horror a moral point, without turning it into a lecture.

At two hours and twenty-two minutes, the length of the film is certainly ambitious, and this is where the film’s confidence sometimes goes too far. While the length makes the atmosphere thicker, it also risks making some discoveries less striking. A more careful edit could have maintained the same psychological effect while also keeping up the story's pace. That being said, the length also adds to the film’s feeling of being trapped. Time becomes part of the punishment, mirroring the characters’ inability to escape their pasts.

The best thing about the anthology structure is how it lets us see earlier scenes in a new light. As links between the characters’ pasts emerge, earlier statements take on new meanings, shifting from showing openness into pieces of a larger, more troubling pattern. The film doesn’t explain everything, trusting the audience to sit with doubt and make their own judgements.

Where the film may split audiences is in how it balances emotional truth and what happens in the story. People who are expecting a neat psychological puzzle may find the last parts of the film more interesting for what the themes mean than for the answers. In the world of modern psychological horror, BARE SKIN stands out for its willingness to put trauma at the centre without sensationalising it. The film doesn’t use pain for shock value or give false hope. Instead, it asks hard questions about who is responsible, what people agree to, and what is right about showing yourself, and then refuses to make the results any easier.

BARE SKIN isn’t a relaxing watch, nor does it pretend to be. Its effect comes from constant tension, solid acting, and a subject that feels both current and disturbingly present. The film’s ambition and emotional sincerity make it a remarkable piece of modern psychological horror, one that stays with you not because of what it shows, but because of what it makes us confront.

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[photo courtesy of MIRACLE MEDIA]

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