Under The Skin - Review

Johnathan Glazer’s Under the Skin is a truly spectacular experience. It makes you question what it means to be human and causes you to be extrospective and view the world through alien eyes. Laura, played by Scarlett Johansson, starts as a predator, seductively luring unsuspecting Scottish men into a black void, without a flicker of remorse. To her, humans are just sacrificial objects. Under the Skin is a slow and hypnotic film, and that’s what divides audiences; some find this alluring and atmospheric and fully allow themselves to learn the world in a new way, while others may find it frustrating and elongated, as they don’t fully sink into the void that this film creates. But personally, I feel that both the tone and pacing of this film are perfect. The way that Glazer deliberately strips away narrative exposition to force the audience into the same unfamiliar, disorientating experience as Laura, making the film feel more like a sensory encounter than a conventional story.

Even the cinematography makes the human world feel unfamiliar, the camera explores the world with the same uncertainty that Laura does; it’s curious, often lingering on the mundane. It employs a combination of traditional camera work and hidden cameras to capture genuine human authenticity. For example, the 8 hidden cameras were hidden in the van, allowing for realistic, improvised dialogue and genuine non-actors who were not aware they were interacting with a movie star. Most of the lighting is natural and often intense, creating an interrogative mood as Laura investigates the world, pondering what it truly means to be a human “under the skin." The sound design is exceptional; Mica Levi’s eerie soundtrack merges effortlessly with the environment, it’s seductive, and often resembles the sound of insects, which act as a motif throughout the movie. It guides the audience’s emotional responses and subconsciously tells them how to feel.

Johansson’s performance is quiet, detached and observing. For the most part, she acts as a passive character, simply studying the world around her until the time is right. She mirrors the static shots that frequently appear in the film, her stillness reinforcing the film's themes of alienation and identity. Her obvious emotional detachment and lack of empathy that is displayed cause the audience to look at humanity from the outside. By acting like a human, rather than naturally embodying it, Johansson emphasises that humanity is something that can be constructed, imitated and misunderstood. As Laura becomes aware of her own naturally growing humanity, her stillness shifts from cold confidence to genuine vulnerability, reflecting the film’s deeper interest in what it means to possess or be denied humanity.