Loving the alien ?

An alien entity inhabits the earthly form of a seductive young woman  who combs the Scottish highways in search of the human prey it is here to plunder. It lures its isolated and forsaken male victims into an otherworldly dimension where they are stripped and consumed. But life in all its complexity starts to change the alien. It begins to see itself as ‘she’, as human, with tragic and terrifying consequences. UNDER THE SKIN is about seeing ourselves through alien eyes, as ‘she’ sees her reflection in a mirror …. UNDER THE SKIN starring Scarlett Johansson is Jonathan Glazer’s critcally acclaimed third feature after SEXY  BEAST and BIRTH.  - 
to quote the blurb.

A few hours after watching Jonathan Glazer’s new film UNDER THE SKIN I am still dazed and confused. What an unsettling, polarising film – its been an amusement skimming through the 20 pages of comments on it AT IMDb, as so many either love it or loath it. It is of course a film of staggering visuals which anyone who admires Kubrick or Roeg (in MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH mode) can relate to, but as I find with a lot of films these days some of the visuals are so dark and murky one can barely see what is going on – and I barely noticed the soundtrack …. We seem to be in 2001 territory at the start as the alien is created, but several questions: why is it only men she picks up ? –  if they want human flesh surely women could be targets as well, (maybe even tastier?). Why is she in Scotland? Is she even female ? Are the men in motorcycles also aliens whom she collects the men for? What is that goo they sink into? Why is the pacing so off in some scenes so one feels one could fast-forward without missing anything …. The scene at the beach with the body and the abandoned baby seems inconclusive? The film is so confusing that it eventually shuts the viewer out. The final events in the woods are confusing and, it must be said, alienating

It is fascinating though seeing the emotionless alien going about her/its business and slowly discovering what it is to be be human and to feel emotions. Is she/it really killed at the end or was that just one representation of her? I think I will have to watch it again ….. we loved Glazer’s SEXY BEAST but I have not seen BIRTH, one to catch up with then, he also did some stunning well-known commercials like that one with the horses in the sea waves for Guinness. But few films are as mesmerising or as puzzling as UNDER THE SKIN. 

This will become a future classic, like PULP FICTION or 2001. but to others it will either thrillingly original or tedious and boring or a bad acid trip.