Under the Skin (2013)

An alien Scarlett Johansson prowls the streets of Glasgow in Jonathan Glazer’s astonishing, mind-bending mixture of existential science fiction and inner-city realism.

The icily brilliant Scarlett Johansson stars as an alien predator scouring Scotland's streets for human prey, in Jonathan Glazer’s astonishing amalgam of fantasy and reality. Mixing mind-bending visuals and hallucinatory sound design with an unexpected naturalism, Glazer returned to the screens after a nine-year absence in audacious style, utilising guerrilla filmmaking tactics to capture Glasgow and its unsuspecting inhabitants with intimate realism.

Winner of numerous critical accolades, Under the Skin works as both a genre piece rooted in sci-fi traditions and as a subcutaneously affecting drama documenting an outsider’s perspective on a new world.

2013 United Kingdom, USA, Switzerland
Directed by
Jonathan Glazer
Produced by
James Wilson, Nick Wechsler
Written by
Walter Campbell, Jonathan Glazer
Featuring
Scarlett Johansson, McWilliams, Jeremy, Taylor Mackay, Lynsey
Running time
107 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Under the Skin

Critics

Inka Achté
Finland
Xan Brooks
UK
Robbie Collin
UK
Victor Courgeon
France
Barbara Creed
Australia
Alistair Harkness
UK
Stephen Hughes
UK
Guy Lodge
UK/South Africa
Ben Luxford
UK
Thierry Méranger
France
Veton Nurkollari
Kosovo
Andrew Pope
UK
Andrew Pulver
UK
Tim Robey
UK
Ronald Rovers
Netherlands
Clare Stewart
UK
Laura Venning
UK

Directors

Hope Dickson Leach
UK
Romola Garai
UK

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