IMDB lists this as "An alien seductress who preys on hitchikers in Scotland." That's it. That's the perfect explanation for Under The Skin. What it should have added was that this was probably one of the most expensive student films ever made. Quite frankly, it's only selling point is that Scarlett Johanssen takes off her clothes a lot in this film. Otherwise, there's not much else to say.
Under The Skin starts off with very long shots of Scarlett in a truck, trying to pick men up. When she does, she lures them into a house where she and they take off their clothes and she lures them into some kind of black pool where they die. This is intersperced with long tracking shots of Scarlett walking, her butt while she's walking, her emotionless face while she's walking, her legs while she is walking, her eyes while she is walking, her hair while she is walking, her back while she is walking, her boots whiles she is walking, her lips while she is walking, her butt while sh...wait, did I already say that? There are also exciting action scenes of her examining herself in a mirror many times, both clothed and naked. Did I mention she's naked a lot on this film? Anyway, at some point she runs into a nice guy after having a crisis of conscience, I guess. I don't know, it's never explained. She has sex with him and then inexplicably runs away into a forest. She then runs into a logger who tries to rape her, and during that, rips open her skin. We see she is an alien wearing a woman suit which it peels off. The logger runs back, douses it with gasoline and sets her on fire. It dies. The end.
This movie is what cinephiles call deliberately paced (read slow). It is also almost completely dialog-free. In almost two hours, I'd say about ten minutes of that time is there any dialog. The director, Jonathan Glazer, must have some kind of Zvengali-like hold on Scarlett Johanssen, because he spends most of the rest of the time lovingly photographing her entire body for extended periods of time (and in the end, if I'm honest, the only real reason to watch this time-waster). How he managed to convince one of the hottest actresses right now (literally and figuratively) to do this film is beyond me, but I wish I had that kind of mojo. Now, much was made of Uma Thurman being Quentin Tarantino's muse, as he used for essentially three movies. But, Glazer must, like the rest of us males in the audience, really be infatuated with Scarlett, because that's what this movie seems to be about. Instead of Under The Skin, it should be named Scarlett Johanssen's Beautiful Supple Body or Scarlett Johanssen Is The Most a Beautiful Woman In The World, because there is no other explanation for the film. It is a weird cross between Alien, Species and Eraserhead. It has Alien's pace (with none of the eerieness), Species' nudity and plot (without the excitement), and Eraserhead's strangeness and coherency. In the end, don't go in expecting an entertaining movie or even a thinking movie, just a lot of nudity. Oh, and did I mention Scarlett is nude a lot in this film?
By the way, for such a crapfest, I really love the movie poster below.
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