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Under the Skin (2013 film)

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Under the Skin
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJonathan Glazer
Screenplay by
  • Walter Campbell
  • Jonathan Glazer
Produced by
StarringScarlett Johansson
CinematographyDaniel Landin
Edited byPaul Watts
Music byMica Levi
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 29 August 2013 (2013-08-29) (Telluride Film Festival)
  • 14 March 2014 (2014-03-14) (UK)
  • 4 April 2014 (2014-04-04) (US)
Running time
108 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget£8 million ($13.3 million)[2]
Box office$3,312,113[3]

Under the Skin is a 2013 British-American[4] science fiction film directed by Jonathan Glazer. Produced by James Wilson and Nick Wechsler, it was written by Glazer and Walter Campbell as an adaptation of Michel Faber's 2000 novel of the same name. The film stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien who preys on men in Scotland.

Plot

In a surreal opening sequence, a synthetic human eye is formed as an alien voice is heard in the background practicing speaking in a human voice. Later, In Scotland, an alien wearing the human disguise manufactured in the opening sequence (Johansson) takes the clothing of an immobilised young woman (possibly her predecessor, although this is not specified), and proceeds to travel the country in a van picking up men. As she lures her victims into a trap with the promise of sex, the men are immersed in a kind of liquid which evidently softens human tissue until their flesh is harvested in a bizarre rendering process. This process is demonstrated in a disturbing sequence. As the alien works she is monitored by another alien, who has the body of a male motorcyclist.

When she attempts to seduce a visiting Czech man swimming on a beach, she witnesses the accidental drowning of a man and woman. She watches dispassionately, then kills the Czech man after he collapses in exhaustion after trying to save them. She takes his body with her, leaving the drowned couple's terrified toddler behind.

Eventually the alien begins to sympathise with the humans she hunts. She falls on the streets of Glasgow and many people come to her aid. Soon after she seduces a lonely and sexually inexperienced man who has facial neurofibromatosis disfigurement, but takes pity on him and allows him to escape, fleeing herself as well. The man with neurofibromatosis is tracked and killed by the motorcyclist, who then, aided by several other motorcyclists, sets out in pursuit of the alien woman across Scotland.

Troubled by the encounter with the man with neurofibromatosis, the alien begins to feel more conscious of her human body. She attempts unsuccessfully to eat human food. She is soon after helped by a man who takes her to his home, cooks for her, and provides her with her own room and bed. She trusts him and they attempt to make love, but are unable to because, as she only then discovers, her human disguise does not include genitalia.

Distraught, the alien flees into a deep public forest, has an initial encounter with a commercial logger, and, exhausted, shelters in a bothy (a public cabin space in the park). She is awakened by the logger, who pursues her out of the bothy and tries to rape her, in the process tearing her skin, revealing her black alien body beneath. Shocked, the logger runs off. She partly extricates herself from her human skin, staring transfixed at her synthetic human face, and the logger reappears, douses her in petrol and burns her alive. The smoke from her burnt body coils into the sky as snowflakes fall.

Production

Many of the scenes where Johansson's character picks up men were unscripted conversations with non-actors, filmed with hidden cameras. Director Glazer said the men were "talked through what extremes they would have to go to if they agreed to take part in the film once they understood what we were doing."[5]

Release

Under the Skin premiered on 29 August 2013 at the Telluride Film Festival. It later played in competition at the 70th Venice International Film Festival. The film was also screened at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[6][7] It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 March 2014[8] and was released in the United States on 4 April 2014.[9]

Reception

Box office

Under the Skin opened with a gross of £239,000 at the UK box office[10] and opened in the United States with $140,000 in four theaters, earning it the highest per-theater average out of all films in release throughout the weekend, above Captain America: The Winter Soldier.[11]

Critical response

Under the Skin received generally positive reviews from critics, with many praising Glazer's direction and Johansson's performance. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 86% based on reviews from 146 critics, with an average score of 7.9/10. The site's consensus states: "Its message may prove elusive for some, but with absorbing imagery and a mesmerizing performance from Scarlett Johansson, Under the Skin is a haunting viewing experience."[12] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 78 out of 100 based on 41 reviews, signifying "generally favorable reviews".[13]

Xan Brooks of The Guardian gave Under the Skin five out of five and called it "far and away the best picture" in the Venice Film Festival.[14] Peter Bradshaw, also of The Guardian, said it was "visually stunning and deeply disturbing",[15] and gave the film a perfect score of five stars, along with Andrew Lowry of Total Film,[16] Dave Calhoun of Time Out,[17] and Kate Muir of The Times,[18] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph also gave it five stars, and wrote: "if my legs hadn't been so wobbly and my mouth so dry, I would have climbed up on my seat and cheered."[19] Richard Roeper, meanwhile, gave the film an A+[20] and four out of four stars, stating, "This is what we talk about when we talk about film as art,"[21] while Christy Lemire also awarded the film a perfect four-star review, calling it an "undeniably haunting, singular experience," as well as calling it one of the best films of 2014.[22]

Kaleem Aftab of The Independent gave the film one star out of five, calling it "laughably bad".[23] Henry Fitzherbert of The Daily Express wrote "it didn't get under my skin, just on my nerves", awarding it two out of five.[24] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter said that "the film provides too little for even relatively adventurous specialized audiences to latch onto."[25]

References

  1. ^ "UNDER THE SKIN (15)". StudioCanal. British Board of Film Classification. 3 January 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  2. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (24 March 2014). "Under The Skin: at any cost | Features | Screen". Screendaily.com. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Under the Skin (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Under the Skin | Official Competition | 57th BFI London Film Festival". Whatson.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  5. ^ Jones, Emma (16 March 2014). "Scarlett Johansson on playing 'unscripted' scavenging alien". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  6. ^ Punter, Jessie (23 July 2013). "Toronto Intl. Film Festival Unveils First Batch of Films". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  7. ^ "Under the Skin". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  8. ^ "Scarlett Johansson's 'Under the Skin' announces UK release date – Movies News". Digital Spy. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  9. ^ ""Under the Skin" Scarlett Johansson Alien Movie Release Date". Complex. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  10. ^ Gant, Charles (19 March 2014). "Need for Speed in pole position at UK box office but Under the Skin infectious | Film". theguardian.com. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  11. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for April 4–6, 2014". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  12. ^ "Under the Skin (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  13. ^ "Under the Skin". Metacritic. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  14. ^ Xan Brooks (9 February 2013). "Under the Skin – Venice 2013: first look review". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  15. ^ "Under the Skin review – 'Very erotic, very scary'". The Guardian. London. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  16. ^ "Under the Skin". Total Film. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  17. ^ "Under the Skin". Time Out. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  18. ^ "Under the Skin". The Times. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  19. ^ "Under the Skin, Venice Film Festival, review". The Daily Telegraph. London. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  20. ^ http://www.richardroeper.com/reviews/undertheskin.aspx
  21. ^ http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/movies/26702814-421/under-the-skin-brilliant-mood-piece-about-a-fascinating-femme-fatale.html#.U1WNdNzdCa4
  22. ^ http://christylemire.com/skin/
  23. ^ Kaleem Aftab (29 July 2013). "Review: Under the Skin – Even Scarlett Johansson can't save Jonathan Glazer's laughably bad alien hitchhiker movie". The Independent. London. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  24. ^ "Under The Skin — review and trailer". The Daily Express. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  25. ^ "Under The Skin (2014)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
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