Beautifully hypnotic and hauntingly dispassionate, Jonathan Glazer’s multi-faceted exploration of cultural subjectivity and social realism flawlessly straddles issues of both observational cinema and the sublime.

Aspects of Lynchian absurdity and Kubrickian perfectionism are plainly evident at times, often coming into conflict with one another. This system of overtly mundane, meaningless exteriors is quickly mirrored against a seemingly transcendent, open-ended flux of symbolism, which often becomes iconoclastic in the process. Despite Glazer’s extensive use of such routinely inharmonious approaches, Under the Skin maintains its fluidity throughout; forever refusing to be wholly alien, or totally familiar – and therein lies its purpose.

A mesmerising, deeply attentive piece of filmmaking; acutely original in spite of its eminent heraldry.

RATING: 5/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Scarlett Johansson, Paul Brannigan, Jessica Mance

DIRECTOR: Jonathan Glazer

WRITERS: Walter Campbell, Michel Faber, Jonathan Glazer

SYNOPSIS: An extraterrestrial seductress preys upon hitchhikers throughout Scotland.