Common Sense Media Review
By Jennifer Green
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Horror film has suicide, spirits, sick kids, and swearing.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Skeletons in the Closet
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Mark (Terrence Howard) and Valentina (Valery M. Ortiz) are a happily married couple whose daughter Jenny (Appy Pratt) has cancer in SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET. The couple can't afford Jenny's treatments, especially after Mark loses his job. When Mark's brother, Andres (Cuba Gooding Jr), gets out of prison, he offers to connect Mark with a dangerous loan shark. Andres also takes Mark to a psychic (Sally Kirkland), who in turn sends Mark and Valentina to a mysterious, dark, and powerful psychic (Udo Kier) who promises he can cure Jenny -- in exchange for a sacrifice the couple might not want to make.
Is It Any Good?
Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard (also one of the film's writers) are wasted in this hodgepodge of a horror film. It's not entirely clear why the role for Gooding, Jr was even necessary in Skeletons in the Closet. His fresh-out-of-prison character seems to exist only as a conduit to a mob-like loan shark and a psychic (and to babysit). It's an awkward mix of elements, acknowledged when the wife explodes in frustration, "My husband's out here working with the mob and a f--king fortune teller!" None of it is as creepy or suspenseful as it hopes, not even the guy in the scarecrow costume or the man with the snake.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the idea of psychics, which play a key role in Skeletons in the Closet. Do you believe some people can see or even change the future? Do you have any personal experience?
Do you think Mark and Valentina made good decisions? What were their motivations?
What other horror films have you watched with elements similar to this film?
Did this movie scare you? Why or why not? What moments or aspects of the film created the most tension, in your opinion?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : February 9, 2024
- Cast : Terrence Howard , Cuba Gooding Jr. , Valery M. Ortiz
- Director : Asif Akbar
- Inclusion Information : Black Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s) , Latino Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Shudder
- Genre : Horror
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Family Stories ( Siblings )
- Run time : 91 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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