Under The Skin opens in Austin April 18th, and has already released in dozens of other markets.
Everything about her is a mystery. As we witness creation (her birth) in the abstract formation of an eye and the muttering of a language that we can eventually identify as our own, we accept that filmmaker Jonathan Glazer’s third feature, Under The Skin, isn’t going to feed us any easy answers. As a matter of fact, I’m not even entirely certain that the opening of the film IS a scene depicting birth or creation. And much of what I drew from the film and have continued to ponder since staggering out of my daytime screening back into the real world is subject to scrutiny, as my take on the film might be largely different than what another viewer might have taken away.
A film like Under The Skin would have been a lot harder for me to embrace as a younger viewer. I came up pretty solidly in the world of American entertainment where answers are doled out, and extra flashbacks are thrown in just in case one single viewer might have been unsure of what was being alluded to. I used to hate it when all the characters of a movie died, because I felt like I wasted my time. I wanted all the themes and lessons and thrills of a theatrical experience to be right there in my face so I could cheer with the crowd and pat myself on the back for “getting” what the filmmaker was saying (if they had anything to say at all). And if I’m entirely honest, I still largely enjoy those visceral, easily digestible pieces of American entertainment.
But a funny thing happens as you delve deeper and deeper into the world of cinema, and as you simply grow up. You start to realize that you’ve “seen it all”, and that those base thrills don’t stand out from anything that came before. And so, Under The Skin comes to me at a great time in my ever expanding appreciation of cinema. I’ve never really seen anything like this movie, and I don’t believe anyone else has either. The visceral thrills of a tough guy walking away from an explosion without blinking are great, but seeing something wholly visionary and unique offers a deeper kind of lasting appreciation that you can’t take for granted.
I’ve been wrestling with Under The Skin for days, and felt nervous about writing the film up simply because I’m fairly certain there is a lot more to the movie than I’ve yet to uncover, myself. But I’m cool with making that known. Under The Skin is a profound work that is offering thematic exploration of a wide range of topics, some of which probably went right over my head on the first viewing. I love that Glazer refuses to fill in long periods of silence with hollow dialog or expositional voiceover to help hold my hand and explain to me exactly what his tale all means. As I said, everything about her is a mystery.
At Cinapse, we generally try to shy away from reviews that simply regurgitate the plot summary. That isn’t getting at the meat of the thing. So we often merely share an IMDb synopsis, so we can get right down to the genuine discourse and discussion. But that said, I came across this hilariously brief, surprisingly accurate, and wholly insufficient plot synopsis of Under The Skin on one of our favorite sites, Letterboxd:
Hilarious Letterboxd Plot Synopsis
An alien in human form is on a journey through Scotland.
Yep, that is… accurate. This isn’t a film that proceeds at a break-neck pace. It won’t flash by you in an instant. But as slowly as it unveils its mysteries, and as methodically as Scarlett Johansson woos her victims (and her audience), it will creep into you and may even lose you at times.
Equally as fascinating as the subject matter, if not potentially more fascinating, are some of the stylistic elements of this multi-sensory experience. The jarring and horrifying soundtrack is a wonderful addition to the experience and acts very strongly like a character within the film. I just found out that the musician who scored the film, Mica Levi, is actually a female, and that makes me smile. The soundtrack is its own piece of art within a wider project, and as the subject matter of the film has so much to do with femininity, identity, and sexuality, it brings me joy that a female artist was behind this brilliant music.
You may also have heard about some of the incredible tales behind the production of this movie and how many non-actors were actually surreptitiously wooed by Johansson in her white van, which she drives around Scotland looking for solitary male victims in. At some point the civilians have to have been made known about the filming, but you’ll potentially have trouble discerning actors from non-actors, not to mention discerning a dang word they are saying in their thick Scottish brogue. This hidden camera work adds to the thematic element of sexual dynamics, wooing practices, and actual hunting and killing practices as well. Glazer actually places the very real mega-star Johansson in a van, hunting potential candidates to make it into the final film, luring them into a performance worthy of a feature film without them even knowing it. How the filmmaking team was able to pull all this off is one incredible element to think about. How well it works and integrates into the final film is an entirely separate and impressive victory.
Under The Skin is the kind of movie that you’ll want to experience and wrestle with on a personal level, if an art film about an alien seductress in Scotland as portrayed by Scarlett Johansson sounds even remotely appealing to you. I’d recommend the film as an oblique and challenging work that ultimately also offers a pretty clear and satisfying narrative in spite of allowing for a wide array of interpretations. Check the film out if that sounds like your bag, and from here on out I’m going to explore some thematic elements that could very easily dip into spoiler territory, so you’ve been warned!
Throughout the first half of the film, which flirts with being a bit too long, we simply see a wide-eyed and seemingly newly-birthed Johansson being given the keys to a van from her motorcycle-riding male co-conspirator, and soon she begins the wooing process. Sexy as I don’t know what in her crazy John Rambo haircut and grungy stone-washed jeans and fur coat, our protagonist lures unsuspecting victim after victim into her visually stunning, all-black chamber of death, in which they, trance-like, emmerse themselves in a black-as-night substance and become food or fodder for whatever higher power is controlling Johansen’s nameless character. The process happens over and over again, with that aforementioned incredible soundtrack as our guide. We see the world through alien eyes, but never quite know what is going on behind those eyes.
Until she begins to question her role; her place in this cycle. Our protagonist’s crisis comes when she begins to feel compassion for one of her “victims” (a man suffering from facial deformities who has an interesting story all his own) and eventually goes off the reservation; no longer willing to serve her intended purpose, but no longer having any sense of identity, either. Through this very simple narrative, which apparently screenwriter Walter Campbell came up with entirely separately from the novel the film was based on (he didn’t even read Michel Faber’s book!), Glazer and Campbell are able to tell a profoundly human story with widely reaching implications, as well as deliver a disturbing and visually stunning sci-fi/body-horror mood piece. Quickly the hunter becomes the hunted, and the seductress has to make her first attempts at trust, self-discovery, and the more human side of sexual dynamics. Campbell’s screenplay only hands you small breadcrumbs as the whole journey unfolds. Even if you’ve read these spoilery elements without having seen the film, my sense is that you’ll still be surprised and shocked by the plot elements as Glazer and Campbell dole them out.
Unnerving, uncompromising, wholly alien, and yet wholly relatable, Glazer has crafted a fascinating work with Under The Skin. The thrills one gets from most alien invasion films, with their battles and explosions and heroic themes, won’t be found here. A different kind of cinematic joy awaits you, one where you’ll have to work hard to unwrap what you think the film is trying to say and what it all means in the end. You’ll experience powerful visuals and you’ll be equal parts titillated and repulsed. This is cinema that has an impact on you. You may not cheer or pump your fist in the theater, but Under The Skin will forcibly insert itself into your brain and stick there long after the easily digestible action/sci-fi epics of the studio system.
And I’m Out.