Under the Skin (2013) Review

Or Girl meets Boys, Girl seduces and kills all the Boys, Girl decides she like all the Boys really, Boys are Bastards. You know, your typical Girl meets Boy story.

You can watch the trailer here.

Warning: There will be swearing, and there will be penis. Lots of penis.

Under the Skin (2013) was certainly interesting. I'm constantly fighting against myself with this one. I hated it. Then it grew on me the more I thought about it. Then I kept remembering the ending and chastising myself for starting to like it.

I wanted to love it, and for a while I did. But then it all went wrong.

When I decided I wanted to watch the film, this was all I knew about it. Synopsis courtesy of Flixster;

A voluptuous woman of unknown origin combs the highway in search of isolated or forsaken men, luring a succession of lost souls into an otherworldly lair. They are seduced, stripped of their humanity, and never heard from again. Based on the novel by Michael Faber, this film examines human experience from the perspective of an unforgettable heroine who grows too comfortable in her borrowed skin, until she is abducted into humanity with devastating results.

My Random Term Glossary

This post will be continuously edited and reworked as I add more things to it. It will get messy. It will get disorganised. I will not apologise. Yes I will, I'm British. Sorry!

Deep Impact Effect
This is when a film worries that people are not emotionally invested enough in a harrowing plot line / are getting bored, so they hold up a crying baby to remind you of how serious this all is. Courtesy of Deep Impact (1998).

Hamster Style
Something happens in the first 10 minutes that comes back to haunt the narrative. Ever noticed how anyone who coughs at the start of a film almost always dies of consumption at the end? Your basic Chekhov's gun. "One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off. It's wrong to make promises you don't mean to keep." - Chekhov. Genuinely can't remember who nicknamed it Hamster style though.

Phoebe Buffay Treatment
When you never show the ending to a film in order to protect the viewer and yourself from a horrific ending. From the Friends (1994-2004) episode 'The One Where Old Yeller Dies'.

Titanic Disorder
An illness in which a film has to mention the name of the character each line is addressing, every single time. This is to ensure the audience remembers their names, and that they know exactly who they are talking to because editing, acting or any form of direction just isn't enough. It is most commonly found in plays written by primary school children, and James Cameron films. Courtesy of Titanic (1997).