Under the Skin (I) (2013)
3/10
A 20 minute short story stretched to feature film length
27 September 2023
I can handle not knowing who our characters are, what their motives are, how they relate to one another, and what the point is for so long, but at some point you need to articulate something... anything. Let me know what they're thinking, why they're doing what they're doing. I was starved of answers for the entire duration of the movie.

This movie seems to rely on its mood and tone over anything of substance and form. It has remarkably few lines of dialog, and what is there is mostly unimportant. We're left to interpret Johansson's character based on her facial expressions and behaviors, and even those are quite vague. There's just not a whole lot here. The film hints at a lot but never truly defines it.

The ending isn't setup aside from the ethereal sequences prior. In the end, we still don't know quite who she is or what she was. I doubt the writer had a specific idea either.

Overall, I didn't like this movie. I found myself asking questions that just were never answered. The film hides behind a layer of mystery, which piques your interest, but there's nothing underneath. Even now having seen the ending, knowing what she is, doesn't leave me feeling satisfied in any way.

Skip this one. Not worth the time.
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