The fantastic thriller Under the Skin (2013) raises more questions than answers from the audience. An ambiguous plot, incredible acting, heroes without a name make the film look like a parable. How did director Jonathan Glaser manage to summarize what is happening in the tape with a lack of specifics? What is the meaning of the film and why did the audience like it so much?
What is the movie Under the Skin about?
Night descended on gloomy and harsh Scotland. Desert area of Glasgow. Country deserted road. A motorcyclist carries a girl along the highway. Her body is chained. He puts him in a white car. Another girl tried on clothes for herself, having previously removed them from her body. City. The heroine acquires other clothes and defiantly paints her lips.
The girl, being in a van, rides around the city. At night, the heroine often asks passers-by young men how best to get there. If a girl becomes aware that the stopped man is alone, then she persuades him to show her the way, directly in her car. Having got to know each other better during the trip, the heroine asks him to keep her company in her house.
Abandoned house. Once in it, young people are in a brilliant black space without tangible boundaries. The heroine takes off her clothes, the man does the same and follows her. But over time, he plunges headlong into a black liquid substance. The body of a man falls into weightlessness, all internal organs are removed, only the skin remains.
A Czech swimmer, a young man suffering from neurofibromatosis, an ordinary local resident. The victims of the heroine are varied. But suddenly a mysterious girl meets a lumberjack who wants to rape her. The heroine manages to escape into the forest, but the man found her there. He rips the clothes off her back with a quick movement. He managed to tear off a piece of the victim’s skin. Beneath it, the lumberjack saw a black building. A strange silhouette sheds the remnants of its skin and examines the face. A man understands that something is standing in front of him. He doused the silhouette with gasoline and set it on fire. An incomprehensible creature burns down, the smoke from it goes into the sky. Snow is falling slowly and beautifully.
The meaning of the film Under the Skin
Alien in the form of a charming girl. The severity of the terrain and the loneliness of the travelers encountered by the heroine. Men easily succumb to the stupid persuasion of a girl; she attracts attention with cheap compliments. But these travelers are just food for alien creatures. Monotonous multiple sequence of actions. The number of victims of a serial killer is huge. Between crimes, the heroine follows people. She is surprised by the sensuality and defenselessness of earthlings. Unexpectedly, even for herself, the alien decided to try on the appearance of a man. But in this confrontation, the heroine lost. Such a role absolutely did not fit the direct and accurate extraterrestrial intelligence.
The meaning of the film is to show our life from the outside. A piercing and unhurried look at human existence. What is needed for a single representative of the stronger sex? Bright, beautiful, charming girl. Just like the heroine. A man is ready to follow her even to the ends of the world. The heroine in the pickup truck acts as a decoy. The man is trapped. Black shiny “anti-space” swallowed him up.
The other side of the film: a frightened alien runs, stumbling through a dense forest. An evil man is chasing her, exposing the vices of people. The heroine is an absolutely alien character for the earthly anthill. People have a negative attitude towards strange, unlike other personalities. Most often they try to subordinate him to the crowd, to make him like everyone else.
The endless loneliness in the film is frightening. People are so deaf to the problems of their neighbor that they absolutely do not delve into requests for help. Every man for himself. However, the heroine, looking aloofly and reluctantly at the vanity of the world, understands that such a life is not for her. The meaning of the film Under the Skin is that you can not drag out a miserable aimless existence.
The images of lonely travelers only emphasize what interests and desires are driven by men. Are they attracted by spiritual beauty, openness, sincerity? No. Exceptional physical attraction. Maybe you need to rethink your outlook on life. Understand what is really important and what is secondary. Life is a priceless gift. It is worth living it in such a way as not to become biological garbage, “food” for alien creatures. All people live for a specific purpose. It is only important to understand in time for what.
The meaning of the finale of the film Under the Skin
In life, everything is simple: either you are a predator or a victim. Everyone decides what position to take. Complain and look for excuses for your failures or take will into a fist and act, no matter what. A harsh and poignant look at human existence.
The heroine tried to try on the appearance of an earthly girl. An ambiguous life outcome of an alien. The heroine tried to look “inside” the human world, to understand its foundations and mechanisms. It is extremely interesting for an extraterrestrial being to observe how it all works. At the end of the film, another killer motorcyclist looks down from the mountain at the picturesque landscapes. The meaning of the film’s ending is that life must be loved, noticing all the most interesting and beautiful.
