Review: Under the Skin

Seen 5/27/15 and 5/28/15

3/4

I like this film. Quite a bit. The first time, last night, I didn't really. I was bored, particularly with the last third. I thought that the sensory experience of it all was good, but I couldn't get past the lack of content. This time, I put content there, even where there may have been none. I found a plot in the dream; structure amidst the ethereal chaos. Nevertheless, the chaos itself is darkly beautiful. The aesthetic of this film is a pure wonder. It's an artist's depiction of his own gorgeously sensational nightmare. However: the last third of the film prevents someone who isn't looking past the sensory from having an all-around rewarding experience. The mystique and intensity die down, as we see the untouchable and other-worldly main character possibly realize her humanity. Things get less interesting from a transcendental perspective, but this is the plot developing. One could argue that the film should have gone without it. Regardless, the ending is great. Most things are left unexplained: it is up to the experiencers to make of this haunting picture what they will. For most, this will be nothing. Whatever force inspired me to give this film another try must have been watching over me, making sure I give the film the attention it deserves. In my opinion, it cannot stand purely as an experiential piece, as perhaps Mulholland Drive can. There may be no sense at all to that film; but one gets the feeling that Under the Skin can be figured out. After all, it comes from a novel, which I'm sure is less atmospheric and more decipherable. This is a film that has interpretive reward, and that's only adding on to the tremendous visual and auditory feast. It's unnerving and beautiful.

Let it be noted that Scarlett Johansson's character is inconsistent. Some would call this character evolution, but I don't quite buy it, and it's a little disappointing. I also don't connect with this commonly-noted theme for this movie of 'seeing humanity through alien eyes'. I just don't understand where that is explored.

With character consistency, the film would get a 3.5. It's very much on the verge now, but I just can't connect the last part of the film well enough. Nevertheless, it is an excellent film to me, and a worthy component of my astoundingly successful recent succession of film experiences: Antichrist, The Hunt, Interstellar, Under the Skin.