It's about a young Job. Quite unpleasant to watch because of an overbearing dramatic musical score, this outweighs the weirdness factor.
my vote history:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur13767631/ratings

I went out on a limb and bought this - on the recommendation of several other imdb users - after watching a little-known horror film called 'Messiah of Evil', and searching for similar films. That film was very akin to mid-period Dario Argento (stylish, atmospheric, surreal and graphic supernatural horror basically), but I'm not sure the comparison really holds up. That said, Reflecting Skin is certainly very weird.
This certainly isn't a fun movie to watch, it's probably worth stating that right away. The characters are uniformly unsympathetic, their motives are unclear, they all seem to suffer from a certain degree of mental illness or emotional trauma (very unsettling in the case of the young protagonist's parents), and there's really no hope presented for them in the narrative. The one hope, the return of the brother played by Viggo Mortensen, becomes another exercise in betrayal and heart-break. In all it's a rather unpleasant and bleak story.
However, it has some very interesting elements which make it worth a look. For one thing, it's extremely unusual and difficult to catagorise (and this I would say was a strong point), so it certainly doesn't adhere to any clinches. It's quite stunning in parts with the overlapping of very beautifully shot natural imagery with the haunting, rising orchestral score. It's full of disturbing images which creep up on you and then linger in the mind (a child conversing with a fetus while lying in bed) and there's a rich atmosphere created by the barren landscapes, made somewhat otherworldly by the distinct lack of people populating them. Some of the symbolism is appropriately bizarre, like the gang of youths who ride around in a black car and (I guess) represent death.
The acting is slightly patchy. I expected Mortensen to be the only 'real' acting presence, but I thought Lindsay Duncan was really great as the lonely vampire-like widow. Her character is the most mysterious, and oddly enough probably the sanest of the bunch, and she does a great job projecting her sadness and vulnerability. Viggo is fine although he doesn't have much to do except argue and brood. Unfortunately Jeremy Cooper isn't particularly strong and a lot of his scenes as the young lead seem rather forced and unconvincing. He's on screen for the entire film and sometimes you wish they'd found a more natural actor.
Possibly the most frustrating thing about the film is that it doesn't feel like a complete story. There are two major plot threads introduced which are deliberately not resolved. I assume since the director also wrote the film that this is intentional, and it sort of fits with how strange the film is as a whole, but once you've stuck with the film for it's entire length and you've invested a certain amount of emotional energy in it (and it's not an easy watch!) there is a real feeling of "that's it?" when it finishes. I suspect though, that I'll enjoy the ending more the second time I see it. (Faint praise, I know.)
I suppose there are certain similarities between this and some of the other films you've mentioned (definitely Pan's Labyrinth) but it's not easy to make a clear comparison. I first thought of 'Walkabout' and 'Tideland' as it's all seen from a child's perspective and the world around him doesn't make clear sense, but there's also something about it which reminded me of Mike Leigh's 'Naked' in how allegorical it feels, and how it builds to a slightly frenzied, melodramatic climax. It's also as grim as anything Leigh has made, and even has a few things in common with Ken Loach's 'Kes' too.
Anyway, I hope that's been some help!
He left a note. He left a simple little note that said "I've gone out the window."