Under the Skin

Johansson makes a great performance in an unlikely role, adding great sensuality to the film, even with her very different looking. The story and movie on itself is a rarety. Very fresh but, also, kind of an unfinished joke.

This was a very bizarre and unique viewing experience for me. I greatly enjoy cinematic puzzles, and directors who have the wherewithal, guts and personal integrity to stick to their guns and project their distinct visions without caving in to corporate pressure or normal sensibilities. It is work like this at the cinematic vanguard that makes cinema the most aesthetic of all art forms and the greatest and most intrinsically satisfying component of my life. Though I have Glazer's previous two films, I have sadly not seen them yet, a condition I hope to remedy as soon as possible. A woman and a…

Reno

2016-12-14

⭐ 6

**The lady from the white van.** First of all, this is not an entertaining film, but an alien theme on a fictional plot like how they would come live among us. Before that, they need to look like us, so they steal human skins and that's what this film is about. Most of the film was in a van driving around in the Scottland. An alien disguised as a human, looking for the single men in the uncrowded places to seduce and steal their skins. But one day after got curious about being a human being, her routine work gets affected seriously and so what happens to her after is told in the remaining f…

A total artistic wank piece. The plot moves at a glacial speed, thanks to all the filler in it. Sure, it's about a curious alien living among humans and consuming them in some mysterious black fluid that only said alien can walk on. Other than that, it is absolutely boring as hell and totally lacking in any amount of entertainment. The cinematography itself is great though only in some limited moments. I have a thing for beautiful landscapes but let's be realistic, I watch National Geographic and BBC documentaries for that. Otherwise, a lengthy look out in thick white fog from within a moto…

CinemaSerf

2024-02-19

⭐ 7

Well hats off to Scarlett Johansson for agreeing to come filming in a wet and wintry Glasgow for this quite intriguing sci-fi drama. She drives around the city in her van, ostensibly on the prowl for horny young men looking for a quickie. Back at her's, though - and that's not always the same place - they find themselves in all together different sticky situation. There's no violence, or brutality - just a gentle, I suppose drowning, sensation. What is going on? Does she even know? Things begin to change after a trip to the forest that she encounters a gamekeeper who is more used to setting th…

sickingupdaisies

2024-10-23

⭐ 9

What a beautifully intriguing film. I can tell it's not for everyone, but I certainly enjoyed it beginning to end. It's very visually interesting with well executed practical effects and eerie sound design. Scarlett Jo does an incredible job in her role, she manages to sell being something not quite human. There isn't a a neatly packaged narrative that wraps up nicely at the end, so if that's what you want then maybe skip this one. I'd say it feels very suspenseful, without there being a release/reveal. Parts of it feel like a dream that keeps repeating. A dark dream that's not qui…

Jonathan Glazer's "Under the Skin" arrives with the weight of critical adoration and art-house credentials, yet ultimately delivers less than its reputation suggests. While technically accomplished, the film demonstrates that technical virtuosity alone cannot substitute for genuine creativity. Mica Levi's dissonant score creates a genuinely unsettling atmosphere, and the hidden camera techniques yield moments of documentary-like authenticity (but not in Werner Herzog's class). Scarlett Johansson commits fully to a physically demanding, nearly wordless performance. These elements deserve rec…