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Don’t get into cars with strangers…not even if the stranger is Scarlett Johansson. That’s the central message in Jonathan Glazer’s haunting and enigmatic new film Under the Skin. An original take on the body-snatcher model, Skin is science fiction without the science. A human tale about the inhuman. It’s a strange and surreal journey that will have you scratching your head, and covering your eyes.
At the centre of the film is Scarlett Johansson’s Laura, our extra-terrestrial protagonist who emerges from a ditch in the lonely Scottish highlands and sets off on a quest to seduce men. Why is she seducing men? We’re not really sure. But we get a good look at how, as over and over again she lures them into a nondescript townhouse and…well you’ll see. Let’s just say the words “harvest” and “sluice” will be on your mind for a while afterwards…and “sluice” is not a word anyone wants on their mind.
Aiding her in her quest is a mysterious motorcycle riding gentleman who tidies up the “loose ends” of her conquests. The two rarely interact – he hums along dark highways as she putters through downtown streets – suggesting that both receive their orders from somewhere far away. But when Laura begins taking a fancy to her human-suit and allows a victim to escape, the motorcycle man calls in reinforcements and the hunter becomes the hunted.
Poetic in it’s storytelling, and heavy on the symbolism, the film maintains a sort of eerie suspense throughout. The waving trees and bleak grey skies of the highland setting seem downright inhospitable to human life through Glazer’s lens. One can’t blame the unfortunate men for hopping into the truck with this strange woman, if only to get out of the weather. Nevertheless the scenes of drunkards being manipulated into their demise show how simple it would be for alien invaders take over the earth, provided they target the men. It’s an idea that would be played for laughs in other hands, but her is presented with the same dull foreboding that wraps the film like a wet jacket. And it’s made that much worse by the fact that many of these scenes were filmed with non-actors and hidden cameras.
In the lead role Johansson is a compelling presence. It’s unfamiliar territory for the young actress, better known for playing the feisty female heroine than mindless sexual predator. With her dark stare and sickly-sweet accent she’s downright unnerving as she lures her unsuspecting victims to their fates. As the film progresses, the steely confidence is replaced with a suspicious curiosity. By the time the transformation reaches animal-fear, it’s an impressive feat of physical acting, but leaves us wishing for a way into her head.
In fact we’d settle for a quick Cole’s Notes of the whole movie. The film has to be commended for sticking to it’s expressionist guns. Glazer seems to know that one little move towards explanatory digression would bring this haunted house of cards to the ground. Nevertheless the film hints at such an intriguing world beyond what we’re shown, you leave wanting answers. Anyone who has read the Michel Faber novel upon which the film is loosely based may understand everything going on…for everyone else it’s the type of film you think you understand, but then worry you’ve missed the point entirely.
Unrelentingly surreal, Under the Skin is like watching someone’s nightmare come to life on the screen. It’s not constant bloody horror but a general feeling of things askew, punctuated by moments of shocking imagery. Except in a dream, when the jump-scare hits, you wake up. There’s no such luck in Glazer’s vision. Nevertheless, it’s a heck of an experience.
Reviewed by Evan Arppe.
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