Monday, 21 August 2017

Under The Skin

(Jonathon Glazer/2013/UK)


Adapted from Michel Faber’s novel of the same name this beautifully low key film posits the question “What am I?” through the experience of an alien life form on the hunt for human men with sinister intent. Luring them to a rundown house using feminine sexuality, the alien, played brilliantly by Scarlet Johansson, begins to question who it actually is. We eventually discover that it has been playing the part of a female and it absconds from its mission due to increasingly identifying with the body of the woman it poses as. The theme transcends a simple sci-fi tale of a rogue incognito alien who has to be dealt with by its superiors and begins to query the machinations of sexuality and gender and the malleability of the two. It is set on the streets of Glasgow with real hidden camera captured interactions between Johansson and random men. Beautifully shot with a haunting score from Mica Levi this is a stone cold classic that will have you reeling by the end and musing on what you’ve watched for ages after.


(4.5/5)


No comments:

Post a Comment