Under the Skin (2013)

Not even the faintest trace of a skeleton resembling a substantive plot can be discerned in Under the Skin. The film consists entirely of one cryptic sequence after another, almost completely devoid of any sort of suspense or involvement, that we, the audience, are supposed to interpret. Only problem being, they forgot to give us something to interpret. Jonathan Glazer, the film's director, really seems to want to re-invent science fiction cinema by re-hashing techniques and ideas that have already been done, and done better no less. Perhaps the biggest problem this film has is the near-complete absence of any sort of exposition. But for a film that is ultimately rooted in genre fiction this is a problem. Why is the alien played by Scarlett Johanson seducing and killing random men by drowning them in black nothingness? Why is this alien even disguised as a human in the first place? Why is she being hunted down by a mysterious man on a motorcycle (supposedly another alien)? There exists this school of thought among young screenwriters and directors that removing plot and exposition from their works and leaving everything up to the audience to "interpret" is somehow a radical thing to do. Except it is not. Even the most cryptic of narratives need to give the audience something to play with. Think of some films by directors who excel in skewing or abandoning the traditional narrative structure, Rivette is a good example; La belle noiseuse is ultimately five-hours of a guy painting a picture of a woman, but there is suspense, comedy, passion, and life. Kiarostami is another example, his films demand patience, and use none of the traditional storytelling elements, but the people that populate his films are fascinating subjects. The problem is that Glazer ultimately has nothing to say, and Under the Skin reflects that. There are moments when Glazer comes very close to pulling something off, there is a very abstract sequence about a third of the way through, and a love scene near the end that are really very stirring, but one is mostly left waiting for something that never comes. Under the Skin's "artiness" fails thoroughly at disguising what is ultimately sloppy filmmaking and writing, and pseudo-intellectual wankery.