Under the Skin: A Hauntingly Beautiful Alien Encounter in Northern Britain
A raven-haired woman in worn jeans cruises through the desolate landscapes of northern Britain in a white van, preying on unsuspecting men with the lure of a cup of tea. It’s clear this woman is not of this world, an alien being whose origins and purpose remain shrouded in mystery.
Fun Fact: Brad Pitt was initially considered for a role in this project during its long development phase.
Jonathan Glazer, with only three feature films and a handful of music videos to his name over a fifteen-year span, has crafted a body of work that feels destined for future cinematic study. His films will likely be hailed as “misunderstood in their time” and “ahead of their curve.”
The film employed hidden cameras, discreetly mounted within an ordinary van, to capture authentic reactions.
However, Glazer’s latest offering might strike some as a relic of the past, drawing inspiration from the psychedelic science fiction of the late 1960s, the unsettling soundscapes of Kubrick, and the surrealism of Jodorowsky. How else can one describe the creeping dread and visceral unease that permeates the film, amplified by the haunting soundtrack, as we witness the protagonist’s genesis, her emergence from darkness into light? It’s a truly unsettling experience.
Defying Conventions, Expanding Boundaries
Glazer disregards the conventions of mainstream cinema (can we even call most of what we see in theaters “cinema” anymore?), but he doesn’t simply break the rules, as some critics have suggested by labeling “Under the Skin” as a piece of contemporary art. Instead, he expands the very boundaries of filmmaking. The protagonist herself, seducing men and leading them into a black abyss, is a stark representation of the power of cinema in a world that has neglected it, reducing it to routine visual fodder. Cinema is the ultimate “Other,” and Jonathan Glazer has unleashed it upon Earth. This otherworldly being wanders through bleak northern landscapes (think Alan Clarke meets “The X-Files”), but with each encounter, she becomes increasingly human, vulnerable, infected by humanism.
A Migrant’s Tale
The buzzing, ambient hive-mind of the world consumes her, and as “Under the Skin” progresses, it transforms into a film about the timeless longing of the migrant. Northern England doesn’t care if you’re from the Czech Republic or Mars. The world adapts everyone to its own image, changes, kills, and consumes.