Under the Skin

Seriously? A painfully slow pace accompanying the tedious and uninteresting scenes endlessly and, most importantly, there is hardly any dialogue, making the film even slower and more boring! Was there a script? Yes there was, Scarlett Johansson drives a car, drives strange men and brings them to her house so they can dive naked into the floor, how inventive. I respect that the film is trying to be different, but it absolutely didn't work for me. 1* for naked Scarlett. Painful experience. (02/07/2014)

This movie stays cold, detached and not-so-enjoyable long into its runtime. Only the last third outlines the motifs that give it sense. Nevertheless, it is only slightly emotional and the least viewer-friendly and most minimalistic film in terms of audiovisuals among Jonathan Glazer’s works. This may be on purpose: while the main feature of Glazer’s genius, in addition to original narrative structures, is powerful audiovisuals. Following a crime drama and a romance flick, he surprises us with a minimalistic take on a genre, which is usually held together by rich graphic expression. (26/08/2019)

If you can tune in to images like a naked man with elephantiasis gingerly padding across a damp, overgrown meadow under an overcast sky, you're in for some breathtaking visual manna at times. Despite the fact that underneath the skin of brooding heavy art there is actually a story about a little mermaid, where the change of the black-clad protagonist is represented by her association with white mist or snow. I notice that the official text of the distributor doesn't mess around this time. (29/03/2020)

For an artistically mature film like this, three stars are probably unfair, but if I rated it higher, I’d be lying to myself. The atmosphere is hypnotic and intoxicating, the soundtrack is fantastic and I would love to make posters of individual frames and hang them on the wall… but the endless ride on a van while looking at nothing gets boring after some time. (02/07/2014)

This is not and cannot be a film that appeals to everyone. If you're going into it expecting to see Scarlett naked, well, maybe you shouldn't hold your breath for that frontal scene. On the other hand, this is an intriguing form of thoughtful sci-fi that ultimately tries to prove that humanity is worth it. I'm not so sure about that... The film follows its own path, as does its direction and camerawork, and it stays true to this path throughout. What cannot be taken away from the film is Scarlett's performance, which is captivating. (14/08/2014)