Under The Skin is a very, very artsy film. There's little dialogue, and there ain't nobody 'splainin' nuthin' to you. It's chock full of jarring imagery and dissonant music, too. Don't see this film unless you're ready to be challenged.
That being said, I really liked it! Every shot of this film could be a well-composed photograph all its own. If nothing else, you'll see new things you've never seen before, or you'll see mundane things in new ways.
The plot takes a while to become clear, but this film is basically about an alien masquerading as an attractive woman who abducts various men along the Scottish countryside. There are many details beyond that, but you're pretty much left to decide for yourself what they mean.
In many ways, this reminds me of Shane Carruth's Upstream Color from 2013. That movie is also a sci-fi thriller that gives you the raw information you need, but stubbornly refuses to connect the dots for you. Both movies seem to be from the perspective of something inhuman observing how mankind reacts to it.
But of the two movies, Under the Skin is a simpler and much more lovely film. It's a sensual tone poem all its own, and perhaps it's best not to worry yourself with something so trivial as a plot. The movie tries to show us the world through alien eyes, and maybe that's something we're not meant to understand.
Scarlett Johansson's lovely performance really brings out how strange our world must be to an alien. It reminded me of David Bowie's glassy eyed visitor in The Man Who Fell To Earth.
This type of movie is inherently hit or miss. But if you enjoy truly visual story-telling, don't require much talking, and can handle a bit of weirdness, this is definitely worth a look.
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