The Skulls (released in theaters on March 31, 2000) arrived at the height of the millennium’s obsession with secret societies and institutional corruption. Directed by Rob Cohen, the film takes the persistent urban legends surrounding Yale’s “Skull and Bones” and reimagines them as a glossy, high-stakes thriller for the MTV generation.
It is a film that balances the aspirational allure of elite privilege with a dark, conspiratorial undercurrent, exploring the dangerous price of entry into the world’s most powerful circles.
Luke McNamara (Joshua Jackson) is a working-class “townie” at a prestigious Ivy League university who has clawed his way into a top-tier crew team and a shot at law school.
Despite his academic success, he lacks the financial pedigree to secure his future until he is tapped for “The Skulls,” an ultra-exclusive secret society that counts senators and judges among its alumni.
Seduced by the promise of wealth and connections, Luke joins alongside Caleb Mandrake (Paul Walker), the son of a powerful federal judge and high-ranking Skull, Litten Mandrake (Craig T. Nelson).
Initially, life as a Skull is a dream of luxury cars and hidden clubhouses.
However, the dream turns into a nightmare when Luke’s best friend and skeptical journalist, Will (Hill Harper), is found dead after trying to expose the society’s rituals.
Suspecting foul play, Luke discovers that Caleb may be implicated in the death and that the society’s leader, Senator Ames Levritt (William Petersen), is more interested in protecting the order than the truth.
As Luke tries to uncover the conspiracy with the help of his girlfriend, Chloe (Leslie Bibb), he finds himself hunted by the society’s enforcers, including Detective Sparrow (Steve Harris).
Even with the interference of a suspicious provost (Christopher McDonald), Luke realizes that once you are a member, the only way out is through a deadly game of survival that pits his conscience against the machinery of the elite.
Malin Akerman makes a brief appearance in her film debut.
Joshua Jackson and Paul Walker in The Skulls (Photo/Universal Pictures)
Reception for The Skulls
The Skulls grossed $11 million on its opening weekend, finishing third at the box office.
The film would gross $50.8 million in its theatrical run.
Legacy
The legacy of The Skulls is its status as a definitive Y2K-era thriller that captured the era’s fascination with institutional distrust and the dark side of meritocracy.
The film is celebrated for its atmospheric production design, which turned university architecture into a gothic, oppressive landscape of secrets.
The movie also contributed to a wave of “youth-oriented” suspense films, leading to two direct-to-video sequels and a lasting presence in pop culture discussions about real-life secret societies.
The Skulls stands as a nostalgic artifact of early 2000s cinema, praised for its brisk pacing, its charismatic ensemble cast, and its chilling suggestion that the people running the world are playing by a different set of rules.
