In Their Skin

As home-invasion thrillers go, In Their Skin is a thoughtful if also terrifying drama about one family trying to supplant another. Following the death of a child, the grieving upper-middle-class Hughes family retreats from the city to take emotional refuge at their upscale vacation home deep in the woods. The day after attorney Mark (Josh Close), his wife Mary (Selma Blair), and their young son Brendon (Quinn Lord) arrive, a family of drifters outwardly similar to the Hughes—Bobby Sakowski (James D'Arcy), his spouse Jane (Rachel Miner), and their son Jared (Alex Ferris)—show up, claiming to be neighbors. Invited to lunch, the Sakowskis soon prove to be hostile as well as bizarre, leading to a night of terror for the Hughes family. While the scenes of psychological and physical torment are hard to watch, the old horror movie trope of a broken family fighting for its survival proves particularly effective here (as does the suggestion that the Sakowskis are a dark reflection of the miserable Hugheses). Director Jeremy Regimbal deftly controls the chaos within this creepily atmospheric film. Recommended. (T. Keogh)