Under the Skin Review

by A.J.
 
It begins with images that are only vaguely familiar: a black circle... a pupil? An eyeball? What we see in Under the Skin is intriguing, mysterious, and understandable enough. Some critics have made comparisons between this film and the films of Stanly Kubrick. Bizarre, ethereal imagery, long shots, quiet scenes, and a lack of explanation usually draw comparisons to Kubrick, but what those people really mean is that it reminded them of the last half hour of 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick’s movies are thought provoking but actually very comprehensible). On the spectrum of auteurs, director Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin falls somewhere between David Lynch and Alejandro Jodorowsky, and in the best way possible too. 

Scarlett Johansson plays a woman with black hair, an English accent, and a fur coat. She roams rural Scotland in a van picking up men with the unspoken promise of a sexual encounter. This is not as easy as you might think, even for an alien (?) that looks like Scarlett Johansson. What does she really want these men for? What really happens to them? Each encounter shows a little more, though that doesn’t mean it reveals more about what is happening. 

This very well might be Scarlett Johansson's best performance. She brings curious life to this not quite human creature. Even when using her charm and sex appeal she seems to be operating on autopilot until she has an encounter with a severely deformed man. After that she strays from her routine and becomes curious and confused by her surroundings and her body. Her journey from then on is as unknown to her as it is to us, and the movie comes as close as it ever does to meeting us halfway. 

Under the Skin makes no direct statements. There is nothing resembling traditional exposition. That will frustrate some and excite others. However, this does not mean it is impossible to follow what is happening on screen; anyone familiar with science-fiction/horror movie tropes is likely to have a good idea of what’s going on. There is plenty to ponder, but this movie shouldn't cause too much frustration to those intent on solving its mystery since Under the Skin is ultimately a Rubik's cube, not a puzzle with missing pieces.