The American Dreams: 'Reflecting Skin' and 'Passion of Darkly Noon'

"Philip Ridley is a singular writer, a prolific polymath, probably a genius, and the creator of some of the most peculiar, grotesque and compelling British plays (and films) of the last several years" (Time Out) Ridley's film debut The Reflecting Skin caused a sensation at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival and went on to win eleven international awards. Set in the Idaho farmlands of the 1950s, the film follows eight-year-old Seth through a mythical summer where reality is heightened to the level of an hallucinogenic, quasi-fantasy. The Passion of Darkly Noon is a modern fable; echoing the surrealist style of Ridley's dazzling and innovative debut film. A young man roaming the American countryside, the victim of a savage attack on his religious cult, is rescued by Callie, for whom he develops a dangerous obsession. "Provocative, shocking and disturbing, a true original...a masterpiece." (What's On)