Dan Abel’s review published on Letterboxd:
31 Days of Horror 2021 - Film 35
An alien assumes the form of a beautiful young woman and prowls the streets of Glasgow looking for victims to consume.
Of course I have to squeeze some A24 horror into my 31 Days of Horror project. I've been waiting a long time to finally see this film so when I was greeted with a naked Scarlett Johansson I knew I made the right decision tonight. In fact I immediately Googled whether that was really her and it totally is. It's because of this that my normal grading curve is off this one time. I usually start films with a ★★½ rating. That's the baseline, and it can only go up or down from there. This film starts at an automatic ★★★.
An excellent soundtrack helps to deliver an extremely strange plot. Under the Skin was an interesting watch at times but otherwise I found myself bored. The premise is a strong one with an alien seductress on some kind of mission. Unfortunately the purpose of that mission is never conveyed to the viewer. It's just one of the many questions with no answers that plague the exhausting runtime. I'm sure there's some underlying context about inner beauty or something but that kind of stuff doesn't click for me. Under the Skin is a strange ride that skirts the lines of awesome and evil far too often. Perfect for A24's stable of films but not really my cup of tea.
Pro Tip - Turn on subtitles because trying to understand a Scottish person speaking English can be a daunting task for those without experience.
31 Days of Horror 2021
A24 Films Ranked
Dan liked these reviews
All
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_ad6ae2d0-79af-4bd9-b54b-059d1e6d915b" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-ad6ae2d0-79af-4bd9-b54b-059d1e6d915b'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-ad6ae2d0-79af-4bd9-b54b-059d1e6d915b'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-ad6ae2d0-79af-4bd9-b54b-059d1e6d915b'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_7d39efb1-8a2b-4521-8db2-0b8260f442ff" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-7d39efb1-8a2b-4521-8db2-0b8260f442ff'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-7d39efb1-8a2b-4521-8db2-0b8260f442ff'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-7d39efb1-8a2b-4521-8db2-0b8260f442ff'));
