Cert: 15 cert
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Screen writer: Walter Campbell , Michel Faber , Jonathan Glazer
Starring: Scarlett Johansson , Jeremy McWilliams , Lynsey Taylor Mackay , Dougie McConnell , Kevin McAlinden , D. Meade , Andrew Gorman , Joe Szula , Krystof Hádek , Roy Armstrong , Alison Chand , Ben Mills , Oscar Mills , Lee Fanning , Paul Brannigan , Marius Bincu .
Running time: 108 min
Parents advised to read before viewing film as some scene may contain scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.
Sex & Nudity: A fully nude woman undresses the dead body of another woman and dresses herself (both of their bare breasts, buttocks, abdomens, and genitals are seen).
The main character frequently entices single men into her van, where she flirts with them.
A woman leads a man into a completely black, void room. While the woman strips down to her underwear and walks backward away from the man, he walks forward and removes all his clothes; we see his bare buttocks from behind, and his fully erect penis from the front as he sinks into the floor walking forward (please see the Frightening/Intense Scenes category for more details).
A man is shown bare-chested and dancing; he and a woman remove all their clothes while in a dark room (the woman is wearing bra and panties as she walks backwards; we see the man's bare buttocks and fully erect penis as he sinks into the floor walking forward). We then see the fully nude man from inside the floor, much like an underwater scene, where he sees and tries interacting with the first man who sank into the floor from a previous scene (both of their penises are visible throughout).
A man walks towards a woman as she walks backwards. She takes off her bra, and and she is the man's genitals are shown and the woman is shown fully nude from a side view.
A fully nude man (his bare buttocks and penis are seen) walks through tall grass and climbs through a fence.
A fully nude woman examines herself in a mirror (we see her bare breasts, buttocks, and genitals, which includes a brief close-up of her labia).
A man and a woman kiss in bed, he lies on top of her and kisses her neck and chest, then removes her pants (we see her bare legs) and her panties and he moves between her legs (we see his bare buttocks). They are trying to have sex when she stops him, moves to the edge of the bed and shines a light between her legs because she seems to be confused by her own anatomy (only her bare buttocks is visible since we see this from behind her).
Violence & Gore:A woman in a van entices a man to join her and the next scene shows her alone in the van (implying that the man has come to an untimely demise).
A woman swims into rough waves near rocks to rescue her dog that seems to be stuck in heavy undertow and we see the dog disappear under the water's surface; the woman disappears as well when her husband struggles to reach her. Another man pulls the husband to the shore, but he goes back in and does not come back out leaving their young child crying on the beach (we see the baby again later in the dark and continuing to cry on the beach as the tide comes closer towards him). We later hear a news report that the man's body has washed ashore and that his wife and child are missing.
In a surrealist sequence, stream of neon-red sludge flows through a passageway (it is not clear what it is, but it could be the organs and remains of men).
A woman finds blood on her hand after a man hands her a rose; we see the man wrapping his bloody hand with a cloth.
A woman trips and falls on a sidewalk and lies face down on the ground before two men help her up (no injuries are seen).
Several young men surround a woman sitting in a van; she rolls down the window and they shout at her and pound on the van; one young man jumps on the hood and another spits on the window before the woman drives away.
Profanity: 3 f-words, one use of "sh*t", one anatomical term, and one mild obscenity.
Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: Men and women in a nightclub are shown holding drinks and drinking alcoholic beverages. One man speaks with a drunken slur.
Several people smoke cigarettes while standing on a sidewalk and talking.
Frightening/Intense Scenes: The "harvesting" scenes is presented in a manner in what can be best described as abstract surrealism, and the events and the victims' fate are more ambiguous rather than literal. When the main character lures men back to her house, the men strip down and then descend into a clear oil-like substance where they are floating submerged. One man witnesses another "deflate" like a burst balloon leaving only the man's skin surface floating. This is followed by another image of what appears to be a large stream of blood sucked into a distant red light.
In the final scene,
In the beach scene, an 18-month-old toddler is seen in severe distress as he is left alone on the beach as his family has drowned.
The film as a whole is rather distressing and uncomfortable due to its surreal imagery, frightening music, and mature themes involving death, sexuality, and an . However, a majority of the film is surreal and/or not graphic in its depiction of such themes.
Story: A female alien comes to Scotland to replace a deceased alien. She drives a van through the roads and streets seducing lonely men to process their bodies. Soon the emotionless alien sees her human form in a mirror and she experiences the human emotions and feelings coming to a tragic discovery.
Likes : Firstly, there is no obvious narrative in this film, because it does not have a big significance or importance here other than to really mess with your head & get under your skin with a unsettling & so what disturbing concept, On the most basic level it is a story of an alien imposing a woman and seducing men from all over Scotland in order to drain their flesh which some scene leave you thinking W.T.F just did you just see & on a deeper layer it is a serious study of our society.
The film's main focus is on the inside and outside of things, the philosophy of form and material that come across very disturbing & unsettling in places with Johansson's character who seem's to struggle in this society.The beautiful Scarlett johanson performance is amazing very believable & haunting, She portrayed as this woman going against the stream, like she's is lost in the sea of rushing people who do not want to get deeper into things, because they know they could be hurt it come off on screen perfect.
This is represented in a very subtle visual way. For instance, roses look nice in the film, but they have spikes which make rose seller's hands bleed. A piece of cake seems delicious, but the taste of it is disgusting.
It is always the fight between the surface and depth in this film, the first impression and further investigation. I believe it is a very important theme for our society where people are afraid of making commitments or engagements, where they seek quick pleasures, even though they need true and honest love.
The film is very strong visually and stylistically. In order for the reader to get a glimpse of what it is, it's is sort of a combination of Kubrick, Lynch and von Trier film's.
Kubrick - for using clever cinematic language, for all the subliminal messages that are there like a sign on a building saying "Open 24" which is pretty ironic as nobody in the film is truly open. The director deliberately plays with this open and closed concept a lot. The music is somewhat similar to Eyes Wide Shut's too and I think it is used to the fullest in Under the Skin as a form of expression. One can also feel the influence of 2001: A Space Odyssey with all those shots of abstract liquids and close-ups of a human eye.
Lynch - for the dreamy, surreal sequences and the guy with the ugly face. I see it as a direct reference to his film The Elephant Man where he also talks about the inner beauty of a human being.
Although though this film kind of makes you feel like watching a film you struggle to understand & really mess's with you mind, its a very haunting but beautifully made film that make you keep watching it even though there is no storyline or plot. you can tell this is a very dark art student type concept film just by the way this is filmed, but if you in to film's that mess with your head, look weird & unsettling this is a film i recommend watching.
Dislikes : just a little hard to understand what's going on because of no narrative at the beginning.
Overall : weird, unsettling , disturbing, great performances
Rating: 4.3 out of 5 for entertainment / 6.2 out of 10 for story-line concept.
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