Under The Skin
(2013) 108 Min.
Rated: R (graphic nudity, attempted rape)
Country: UK / USA / Switzerland
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams
Links: IMDB | Wikipedia
Rating: ★★★★★
An alien presenting itself as a beautiful girl picks up men in a van to take to its lair.
Synopsis:
A motorcyclist (McWilliams) stops along a highway and gets a young woman from the side of a road. She’s placed into the back of a van. Inside the van is a vast whiteness. There the young woman has her clothes forcibly removed by a naked Woman (Johansson). This Woman puts the other womans clothes on.
The Woman drives a white van while the motorcyclist goes off on his own. The Woman drives around Glasgow, Scotland looking for men and asking for directions, etc. After she is able to pick up a man from the street she takes him back to her apartment which is a black void. She disrobes and the men follow her also disrobing. They walk into a black pool while mesmerized by the Woman’s beauty.
The Woman is at a beach and starts to talk to a swimmer. The swimmer, however, is distracted as he sees a woman swimming in an attempt to rescue her drowning dog. The woman’s husband also goes into the water. The swimmer dives in and pulls the husband out, almost drowning in the process. The husband stubbornly returns to the water where he inevitably joins his wife in drowning. Their toddler can be heard crying from the beach.
The Woman hits the swimmer on the head with a rock and drags his body away. Later at night the motorcyclist gathers up the belongings on the beach. The toddler is left alone on the beach.
The Woman again seduces another man into following her. He sinks into the floor and sees beneath the surface another man who is grotesquely bloated. This other man suddenly implodes leaving behind a skin that ripples in the pool of black.
The Woman is again out looking for more victims in her van, while in traffic she is given a rose bought by a stranger. The man selling the rose has a bloodied hand and the Woman looks at the blood smeared on the rose and her own hand with interest.
Over the radio it’s learned that the drowned body of the husband from earlier is found but the toddler and mother are missing.
Later the Motorcyclist and Woman are alone in a dark place. He inspects her face closely, then walks off.
One day while she is walking, the Woman trips. Passerby stop and help her up. She looks at them with curiosity. In her eyes reflect the exposure to humankind and slowly she is absorbing it as she observes.
She stops a man on one night and promises him a lift to wherever he is going. The man has a facial disfigurement and only goes out at night. The Woman takes him back to her place and pulls him into the dark liquid as she has before. However, she releases the man.
She takes the van and flees. Meanwhile, the Motorcyclist finds the disfigured man and puts him into the trunk of a car. The Woman abandons the van in a fog out in the wilderness.
The Woman is in a restaurant and attempts to eat a slice of cake. As soon as the first bite enters her mouth she spits it back up.
At a bus stop she meets a man who takes her to his home and feeds her. At night she is in a room alone and looks at herself in the nude in a mirror. Later the man takes her to a castle and he helps her navigate some steep stairs.
Back at his house they kiss. On his bed he removes her pants and underwear and they’re about to have sex when she reaches down and notices something wrong. She examines herself where her vagina would be and seems surprised.
She runs off and wanders into a dense wet coniferous forest. She finds a shelter just outside the forest and stays inside. She falls asleep but is woken up by a commercial logger rubbing her leg and molesting her. She runs off into the forest. However, eventually she’s captured by the logger. He pins her to the ground, tearing her clothes off in an attempt to rape her. She manages to pull away, but her skin along her back is scratched revealing a pitch black body beneath.
She pulls her head off and looks at the beautiful face she holds. The logger returns and pours gasoline on her then sets her on fire. She runs out of the forest and collapses in snow. She’s dead.
Elsewhere the Motorcyclist looks for her from atop a snowy hill.
Review:
I think it’s safe to say that this film is not for everyone. But for the right people it’s a gorgeous and interesting experience. Under The Skin is an alien film like no other because it carries its story in scenes without heavy dialog. Everything, for the most part, is implied. There’s no expository dialog, instead just images, colors, motion and emotions.
The pacing is slow. For me it felt just right for this kind of film. It’s definitely the journey of one being into the realization and reflection of itself. How humans and human nature made this creature curious enough to want to become like us.
Acting by Scarlett Johansson is very good. She snaps from cordial and inviting in light conversation to the cold stare of an otherworldly being in seconds. It’s mesmerizing and disturbing.
I highly recommend this film to anyone who wants to watch a disturbing and fascinating take on one otherworldly beings journey on this planet. Again, it it’s horror in the sense of disturb and dread rather than outright gore, but it’s still unsettling. It really is a great film.
