Review #843: 'Under the Skin' (2013)

Director Jonathan Glazer's third film in 13 years, Under the Skin, begins with a collection of hauntingly beautiful but unfathomable images, while the soundtrack whispers a strange, alien voice that gradually evolves into broken English. Clearly taking 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) as its main inspiration, the film is a hark back to a time when sci-fi was a canvas for art, placing less importance on plot and narrative, and delving deep into the philosophical side of outer space and the great unknown. A dead girl is picked up from the side of the road by a man on a motorcycle (Jeremy McWilliams) and brought to a curious-looking female, Laura (Scarlett Johansson), who dons the girls clothes and is next seen on the streets of Glasgow.

We don't know who these people are, and know little about them by the time the final credits roll. Glazer shows us snippets at an extremely leisurely pace - this is a 'high art' film that will no doubt have as many people staring at the screen in wonder as it will people checking their watches. We get the sense that the motorcycle man is bad, and as Laura starts to pick up random men in a white van, taking them home and leading them, erections bulging, into a dark black substance, it would seem that she isn't too nice either. But when she picks up a man disfigured by neurofibromatosis, she begins to feel sympathy, letting the man go free and wandering off into the Scottish Highlands to explore our world, trying to make sense of her new emotions.

What is most fascinating about Under the Skin is the way it manages to juggle hyper-realism with genuinely eerie, provocative science fiction. What happens beneath the mysterious black liquid I won't reveal here, but it's a moment of unexpected horror that felt like a slap in the face. The sense of realism is no doubt thanks to Glazer's decision not to hire actors for the victims, and instead opted to use hidden cameras to capture their genuine reaction to being picked up by a beautiful woman and driven home for sex. It gives the film a slightly sleazy edge, and we only see Laura's transformation start to take shape when she picks up the deformed man - a quiet, possibly virginal man who has experienced much suffering.

Scarlett Johansson is a revelation. Hiding her glamorous Hollywood beauty behind a head of dark hair and cheap clothes, she is at first calculating and in control, luring victims with relative ease. But when she first experiences sympathy and flees her apparent mission, she experiences both ends of the spectrum of the human experience. A friendly man takes her in, providing food and a roof over her head, and Laura starts to appreciate her own body, curiously observing her own naked form in the mirror. Her next experience lands her in the clutches of a rapey construction worker. By the time the credits roll, many will be left feeling cold, confused and possibly bored, but I found Under the Skin to be an experience like no other, and it places Glazer at the top of the list of the many young, talented British directors to keep tabs on.


Directed by: Jonathan Glazer
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Adam Pearson
Country: UK/USA/Switzerland

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie