Taking over movie theaters with two films at the box office this weekend, sexy Scarlett Johansson not only appears in this weekend’s blockbuster Captain America: The Winter Soldier playing assassin-like operative Black Window. But she also stars in a smaller, less-mainstream movie, Under the Skin.
After much thought on this film, the first word that comes to mind when describing it is “weird.” Directed and co-written by Brit, Jonathan Glazer, Johansson’s role is of an alien in human form who drives the streets of London looking for lonely, single, men without families. Using her beauty to lure them back to her “lair,” she leads horny dudes to a drowning in a form of other-worldly liquid muck that slowly eats them alive.
Putting this all in words makes this film seem simple to get. Almost easy and interesting at first. But it’s not. Deft of dialect, this is nearly a silent movie. And the scenes you think you’ll see – of alien male liquid digestion – never fully appear on screen. For moviegoers used to today's no holds barred approach in Hollywood, full of graphic violence and overt sex scenes, Under the Skin has none of this and for some will come across slow, strange, and painfully frustrating.
But for those that like to go left, delve into the unusual, explore the side of weird, avant-garde cinema feats, then by all means see Under the Skin. The alien, off-kilter side of you will not be disappointed.
