UNDER THE SKIN (review)

Review by Elizabeth Robbins

I have to admit I was not jazzed about going to see Under the Skin.

The description I had been given before the press viewing I found laughable:


“A voluptuous woman of unknown origin (Scarlett Johansson) combs the highways in search of isolated or forsaken men, luring a succession of lost souls into an otherworldly lair. “

I can already see the male fan base lining up for the chance at seeing Black Widow naked.

I got myself ready for another sexy alien movie à la Species.

Cue my eye rolling.

What I got treated to was an amazing, thoughtful science fiction film that counts on the audience being intelligent not only to follow along, but to enjoy.

It has been a long time since I have seen a sci-fi film that has left me thinking about it days after viewing it.   

Under the Skin harkens back to the science fiction films of the late sixties and early seventies, films like Kuberick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, George Lucas’ THX-1138, or even Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth.  Sparse dialog and the use of documentary-style location shooting or minimalistic sets paint an everyday world with something sinister hunting in the background noise of our lives.

This is the kind of film that reminds us that there is more to science fiction than spaceships, laser blasts, and digital effects aliens.

Scarlett Johansson (The Girl with the Pearl Earring, The Avengers) is memorizing as the hunter.  It shows her skill as an actress the way she is able to portray an other-worldly being passing as human where a lesser actress would just be robotic or wooden. The seduction scenes are subtle, gracefully turning effortlessly into an unnerving capture which has no escape. With each capture/seduction, you feel the shift in Johansson’s character, becoming something more human, making it understandable when she abandons her post.

This is no Species.  It is sci-fi at it’s gritty best.

Director Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast) crafts a starkly, beautiful film where the sound and music is as vivid a character as any of the actors.  The motivation of the Johansson’s alien is never spelled out, and leaves room for your own interpretation.

And that, in a nutshell, is what I liked most about the movie.  I left the theater not knowing what I had just seen, and at the same time knowing exactly what I had seen. It’s one of those films that just when you think you have it figured out, it slips from your grasp, causing you to think about it some more.

It’s the kind of film that after I left the theater, I wanted to talk to people about it.  It’s the kind of film that I wanted to turn around, go right back in the theater and see again.