Under the Skin (2014) dir. Jonathan Glazer

that other film called Under The Skin is also excellent.

Maybe I missed it, but is there any clear moment when you can tell she develops sympathy for humans? Certainly with the man with elephantitis, but why, exactly? Did she feel akin? Is it all just morbid curiosity on her part? Is there some clear moment that shifts her from killing machine to wannabe human?

there was that bit where she said "no, *I'm* the monster!" and ran out of the room

I don't know about <clear> moment, but she seems to register that the disfigured guy has a different energy than the other guys she's picked up - namely that he's not leering at her and making things incredibly tense with barely disguised aggressive vibes. She seems designed/built/whatever to be hot and to lure dudes using her sexuality, and when he doesn't respond to that the way the other guys do, she gets thrown - which starts things snowballing.

There's no explicit reason given why, but it seemed to me that throughout the film she develops a longing to be human. She definitely seemed to find a kinship with the neurofibromatosis guy's outsider status - human, but not quite accepted, on the fringes etc. There's that scene where she examines her human form in the mirror, fascinated. At that point she wants to be human, I think, but her failed attempts at fitting in - eg the cake - prove that she will never belong.

There's something to that (both of those). It's like she had no trouble preying on these men because they all reacted to her lures the same way; in this regard, women and children don't even factor. But when she encounters the neurofibromatosis guy, who reacts in a totally unexpected manner, she can't quite seal the deal. Rather than some dude she lured to his death, he's a reluctant target she actively has to pursue and draw in. And yeah, she likely sensed he was different. Almost like, I dunno, how a meat eater might react after seeing a pig befriend a kitten or something. So she knows there's something more to being human, or whatever these creatures are, and the backend of the movie is her trying to figure it out. Food, sex, etc. When the guy in the woods turns on her, it's like her punishment for letting her guard down, for thinking these stupid, weird creatures as more than meat and potentially even threats.

A lot of similarity to bits in vampire movies where the guilty vampire tries some alternative to blood and barfs.

The logger preyed on her in a similar way she preyed on her victims - initially feigning friendliness and concern, asking if she was alone etc

It's a pretty bleak moral, if you want to think of it in that way. Empathy = weakness that will end with you being incinerated in the woods.

I saw this movie and thought it was really good -- didn't get pretentious vibes but I watch a lot of bad movies so a "good" movie seems extra good to me.
Certainly with the man with elephantitis, but why, exactly? Did she feel akin?
I thought the neurofibromatosis guy part was all about bodies -- the only thing people were reacting to was his face, but his body was just like any other body (whereas her body was not). Maybe this was just because he was walking around naked in the black goo. Maybe she was kinda envious? I dunno. I really liked her costuming/look even if it was a little ott stylish.

xpost You can look at it that way. Or you can look at it as humans=complicated. If she's used to herding sheep, she's in for a shock when she meets a wolf. Esp. since all her killing was easy-peasy luring. The dude aliens seemed a lot more physical and monomaniacal.

it seemed to me that throughout the film she develops a longing to be human

I think there was a necessary built-in contradiction that ultimately she couldn't resolve -- to be effective as bait, she had to convincingly mirror or mimic empathy, all of those friendly flirty conversations where she's playing off of the men's reactions. However artificial her responses were, they still forced her into some kind of understanding of emotion and the search for connection. So I think she was already emotionally primed before she met the disfigured man, and then his loneliness actually affected her in a way the other men hadn't.

This was excellent, wish I'd seen it in the theater for the amazing landscapes and the creepy all-white/all-black spaces and the two dudes dissolving in the goo. The score is fantastic too, didn't realize it was Micachu from Micachu & the Shapes. The movie was more effectively disturbing than most horror movies I see (yeah yeah mainly because of the family dying on the beach and especially the baby alone on the beach).

this would be a good double bill with leviathan, very similar music/sounds. though leviathan is more psychedelic and trippy.

You guys were way more traumatized by the baby scene than I was! Great scene, though, for sure.

Maybe I missed it, but is there any clear moment when you can tell she develops sympathy for humans? Certainly with the man with elephantitis, but why, exactly? Did she feel akin? Is it all just morbid curiosity on her part? Is there some clear moment that shifts her from killing machine to wannabe human?

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, August 5, 2014 3:54 PM (2 weeks ago)

her character arc got a lot clearer on subsequent viewings. moments like the bloody rose, and the scene where she falls and others stop to help her up, they seemed like weird random occurrences on first watch but they're data points she uses to develop a sense of human compassion.

really happy that ilxors are digging this, I know a couple ppl who had ambivalent inititial reactions but later found it stayed with them. the making of extras on the blu ray are v good, interesting interview with mica re: the soundtrack.

the soundtrack is awesome to listen to on public transport. Definitely adds that extra frisson to your morning bus ride

her character arc got a lot clearer on subsequent viewings. moments like the bloody rose, and the scene where she falls and others stop to help her up, they seemed like weird random occurrences on first watch but they're data points she uses to develop a sense of human compassion.

I thought the bloody rose was a false alarm for her that her human skin was deteriorating. (Given the first and last scenes in the movie, this clearly can happen.) Then when she saw that it was just the blood from someone who'd gotten cut, she relaxed -- but the point was taken. The same is possible, I suppose, for the falling down being a clue of her losing her equilibrium. But I like your interpretations of those scenes, too.

the score for this is so great, i can't imagine the movie without it.

the sound design is a big part of it too. At times they're kind of one and the same

those scenes could be both actually - her own frailty contrasted with human kindness

All of the comparisons to The Man Who Fell to Earth are apt. Both films are technically impressive and fun to think/read about, but honestly kind of tedious in practice. Will give this one the slight edge over Roeg's because the scene with the neurofibromatosis guy was honestly poignant.

Wau @ this film

the motorcyclist's role sort of befuddled me (why would he want the family's belongings from the beach but leave the baby?)

so no one disliked it eh

well all the people upthread hated it

I like how this reminds everyone of a different alien-vampire movie. Species, Liquid Sky, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Cat People whatever

I...admired it, I guess, but I'm finding that it has had very little resonance with me since I saw it.

i felt the opposite ... very skeptical during the film, but parts of it have stuck with me since i saw it

The scene with the disfigured man lingers, I should have added.

the key sequences of this movie - at the beach with the baby, picking up the facial neurofibromatosis guy, the two victims floating in the black goo, the final scene - are so well done, they are pretty indelibly inked in my mind

let us compare
to Rohmer

https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/the-women-in-the-city-love-in-the-afternoon-under-the-skin

Having just read the nigh unfilmable book (thread here), which is essentially an animal rights parable, I think the liberties taken by the Glazer & Campbell to make the protagonist somewhat sympathetic, and her employers mysterious, were all pretty brilliant.

For those who haven't seen the book, about the only thing shared is a lone apparent woman using her charms to entice hitchhikers on the A9 to doom. The novel's still worthwhile for fans of slipstream literature.

Ha, forgot about that thread. Good prediction from me in second post.

the motorcyclist's role sort of befuddled me (why would he want the family's belongings from the beach but leave the baby?)

― Οὖτις, Monday, September 22, 2014 12:47 PM (1 week ago)

he took the surfer's belongings, not the family's

This is now on Amazon Prime Instant Video in the UK.

Thanks for the heads up! I enjoyed that.

this was a lot of fun! good mix of body horror weirdness and some things that are actually sticking with me.

my fav shot was the one where scarjo gets swept up in the crowd of girls headed toward the club and you can feel her being like who the fuck are these creatures.

The beach scene in this is one of the most harrowing things I've ever seen, and not just because we were pregnant when we saw it.

grow a pair

i mean was it twins

Just watched this, read all of this thread. Pretty much an amazing film: the beach scene (though I wasn't as affected as you parents up here), the wavering trees, the forest and depiction of the Highlands. And the score, jesus, so great. The tune (theme?) playing while SJ is having sex is still echoing around in my head an hour after. Hope this will bring Mica Levi some more praise and work, the music is immaculate, and key, in this movie. I think SJ was really great in this too: very restrained in her befuddlement, but it was just enough to get you on board.

One plot question though: the motorcyclist, is he supposed to be her 'employer' or alien overlord? He sets her up with a 'skin' in the beginning, and when she 'flees', or isn't delivering the goods, he rides around looking for her, being all Caspar David Friedrich standing on a rock and motorway looking out for her? That's slolely it with him? Or did I miss something?

Solely, not slolely

i'm not really sure glazer completely knows what the motorcyclist is, represents or is supposed to be. i don't really have a problem with that but i can see why most people would.

(book spoilers) In the Michel Faber novel, the main character's only responsibility is identifying well-muscled hitchhikers who won't be missed, and sedating them in the passenger seat. There's another human-appearing alien managing her, and the coastal farm where the fattening and meat processing takes place, as well as numerous untransformed aliens in underground warrens doing the work. The movie is much superior for getting away from the vegan parable.

Ah thanks, that makes sense. I don't have a problem with it Jed, I was just wondering if I'd missed something. In fact, I thought the idea of the mysterious motorcyclist worked rather well. It added pressure to her storyline, knowing she was being searched for probably. Without that counterpart she wouldn't be 'stuck' between humans and aliens. He at least made it clear to us that she wasn't a solitary alien on earth, but rather part of some sort of organisation. Which, for me, made her distress at the end even more palpable.

Think Glazer did well to effect an incredibly nuanced reworking of the book (which had all the abandon of a first novel as well as being defiantly Sci-fi), and created the most amazing externalisation of the abject psyche in Under the Skin. The heterotopic cesspit in which SJ's victims are assimilated is the border between life and death - living cadavers come to encroach upon our earthly boundaries, bringing us face to face with the most brutal reminder of ourselves. In fact, I'm just paraphrasing Kristeva now...

For some light new year's day reading, this essay is basically the perfect companion to this film (and is a truly wonderful piece of writing): http://seas3.elte.hu/coursematerial/RuttkayVeronika/Kristeva_-_powers_of_horror.pdf

I thought the cyclist was just sort of the male expression of this species. Like, the females do one thing and the men do another, like spiders or something. Not really sure what they are up to on earth. Stranded? Invading? Is the house alive? Is there more than one house? I love all the ambiguity.

I liked this a hell of a lot and more and more each time I think about it. I thought Scarjo was amazing. The beach scene was so horrible. I almost yelled, "but the baby!". I think EIII otm regarding the bloody rose and her falling scenes in terms of her developing a sense of compassion. "One plot question though: the motorcyclist, is he supposed to be her 'employer' or alien overlord? He sets her up with a 'skin' in the beginning, and when she 'flees', or isn't delivering the goods, he rides around looking for her." I kind of thought that's what he was. They were a team doing their people snatching thing and she was the bait and he was sort of taking care of things she messed up (the guy she let go) and trying to find her when she went off. This made me want to go to Scotland again. And buy some acid washed jeans.

Finally got around to seeing this and as a recent first-time parent found the beach scene to be the most disturbing/upsetting sequence I've ever seen.

being a parent especially a new one really pays in spades when it comes to some movies and news stories