‎Under the Skin (2013) directed by Jonathan Glazer • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Under the Skin

2013 Directed by Jonathan Glazer

A mysterious seductress preys upon the population of Scotland

A seductive alien prowls the streets of Glasgow in search of prey: unsuspecting men who fall under her spell.

Scarlett Johansson Kryštof Hádek Paul Brannigan Michael Moreland Scott Dymond Jeremy McWilliams Lynsey Taylor Mackay Dougie McConnell Kevin McAlinden D. Meade Andrew Gorman Joe Szula Roy Armstrong Alison Chand Ben Mills Oscar Mills Lee Fanning Marius Bincu Stephen Horn Adam Pearson May Mewes Gerry Goodfellow Dave Acton Jessica Mance

108 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by James Haves 37

What.

What?

I don't get it.

So?

I don't get it.

At least give it a rating.

But I don't get it.

Was it good?

Yes.

Would you recommend it?

I don't know.

How does that work?

I don't know.

What?

What?

Just give it 2 1/2 or something.

I can't.

Why?

Because it's good.

Then what's the issue?

I don't know.

For fuck's sake.

I don't understand it. It confused me.

Just your plebian mind.

Fuck you.

Fuck you.

You know this whole review is entirely self-indulgent, right?

Yep.

So why are we doing it?

Only thing we could think of.

Oh yeah.

Also we're attention whores who like likes.

That's true.

Want pizza?

Sure.
Review by Adam Cook 79

Fuck knows.
Review by Adam Cook 89

It is rare for me to finish a film and be unable to form any real opinion on it. Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin, loosely based on Michel Faber’s novel of the same name, is a film that deliberately defies easy understanding. It is a befuddling, enigmatic and contradictory work that demands total engagement from its audience as it avoids all the trappings of a conventional movie. Yet after I left the theatre, both impressed and disappointed, I have been unable to shake the film from my thoughts.

It is a film of surprising contrasts - it is simultaneously mesmerising yet tedious, surreal yet mundane, erotic yet sterile. It is this internal conflict that makes the film so difficult to…
Review by DirkH ★★★★★ 25

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

I love it when a straightforward story gets a unique treatment. Glazer's film is deliberately alienating, visually and aurally arresting and singularly engaging. I say the latter with no small amount of reserve as it asks a lot of its audience making it difficult to click with. But click with it I did.

Glazer opens with the birth of Johansson's character. In a beautiful visual sequence, we hear her find her voice followed by a rather disconcerting scene in which she clothes herself. Disconcerting because of the compete lack of empathy for the dead girl she is plucking her new wardrobe from. Against a sterile white background we see her clinically do what needs to be done. She gives the…
Review by Todd Gaines ★★★★ 58

ScarJo cruisin' the hills of Scotland and channeling her inner Natasha Henstridge in Jonathan Glazer's incredibly unique one-of-a-kind viewing experience. Motorcycle zoom zoom. ScarJo naked? Hooker high heels. Ants. The way ScarJo looks in her jeans. Red lipstick makes you more fuckable. Minivan cruisin'. Disorganized directions. You should always buckle up for safety. Lonely guy. Chatty chap. Seductive strip. Disappearing wang. Ocean waves. Wetsuit chum. Lifesaver. ScarJo's jacket. Getting hit in the head with a rock fuckin' hurts. Crying baby. Clubbin' for some lovin'. Leprechaun sounding gent. Sexy backwards walk. Weird as fuck faces. Sideways cock. Fade to what the fuckin' fuck fuck fuckin'? Red rose. ScarJo's eyes. Smart dude. Face first fall. Attack the Block rejects. Hoodie man is…
Review by CinemaClown ★★★★ 41

How do you even evaluate a film when you sort of loved almost everything about it yet in the end have no concrete idea of what it was all about? It is pretty rare in movies to find yourself constantly struggling with your very own emotions, unsure of which opinion to settle with, for whenever a step is taken in either direction, something from the opposite end of the spectrum keeps bringing you back in the middle.

Under the Skin is one film that provides such unique experience. It is a mystical blend of horror, sci-fi & mystery that's easily one of the most perplexing, challenging & polarising narratives to come out in years and tells the story of a mysterious woman…

Recent reviews

Review by Noah Meeuws ★

Enigzins boeiend maar voor de rest was dit heel, heel, heel, heel erg slecht. Maar het is zo slecht dat het ook weer leuk is.
Review by Jake Sidwell ★★★★½

I watched this for the first time three years ago and didn't get it but boy do I now. What a stunning portrayal of humanity, this better go down as a sci-fi/horror classic.

I watched this at 2am and the sequence with the two guys inside the alien ship(?) was so harrowing and terrifying.
Review by Marcus ★★★½

I’m sure there’s a lot to be analysed and studied about this movie, but I can’t be bothered when there’s flaws that bring it down to the point where understanding it further wouldn’t save it; Like how 40% of the film looks like it was shot on a $600 handheld camera.
Review by IntenseDaberoni ★★★★★ 1

I can’t think of anything to write that would do this movie justice. Just watch it. It’s good.
Review by Pedro Lima ★½

this film makes me feel the same way my life does: i don't know what's going on but i'm disappointed
Review by heartofglass ★★★

Sorry but uh I don't get it and I don't care enough to find out what the point of this is so I'm just gonna go watch Portlandia.
Review by Carlos Guzmán ★★★★½

¿Qué es esta cosa dura entre mis piernas?
Review by Andreas ★★★★★

Still awesome.
Review by Gokomodogo ★★★★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Los dos momentos más jodidos que se me grabaron de toda la película fueron el bebé y la implosión de una de las víctimas.

Lo de la víctima es más por la tensión "va a pasar algo horrible e inesperado pero no puedo imaginar el qué" y acaba siendo horripilante. Un chasquido y se vuelve sólo pellejo. Ya podía darse por perdido en el estado en el que estaba pero succionarle todo el interior de manera tan eficiente y fría para usarlo como sustento es espantoso.

Sobre el bebé no me refiero a toda la escena de la playa, que ya es apática, robótica y misántropa.
El ver al bebé posteriormente en el mismo sitio donde se quedó nos revela…