Essential Arthouse: Under the Skin (2013)
A mysterious young woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. However, events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery. (R, 108 min.)
Showtimes
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
7:00 PM
Essential Arthouse 2026
From visionary director Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast, Birth) comes a stunning career transformation, a masterpiece of existential science fiction that journeys to the heart of what it means to be human, extraterrestrial—or something in between. A voluptuous woman of unknown origin (Scarlett Johansson) combs the highways 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 Michel Faber (The Crimson Petal and the White), Under The Skin 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. [A24]
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Lynsey Taylor Mackay
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror, Drama
"An intoxicating marvel, strange and sublime."
— Dave Calhoun, Time Out
"Few films will linger with you like this one does."
— Violet Lucca, Little White Lies
"A visionary, thought-provoking sci-fi masterpiece."
— John Oursler, Under the Radar
"There are images in this film unlike any I've seen before."
— Stuart Klawans, The Nation
"It's unquestionably one of the most important science-fiction pictures in recent memory."
— Brian Eggert, Deep Focus Review
"This mysterious masterpiece seduces you into a very different twilight zone of unforgettable sci-fi strangeness."
— Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, metro.co.uk
"Jonathan Glazer's 'Under the Skin' holds you in a state of suspense tinged with dread from the very first image on the screen."
— Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
"Glazer's hauntingly assured direction, accompanied by Johansson's chilling performance, merge to create something unforgettable."
— Ellie Lucas, The Dispatch (Lexington, NC)
"So rigorous and singular is Glazer's technique that it is hard to believe the film will not register with future audiences as a classic of its era."
— Donald Clarke, Irish Times
"Amid its scorching, fractured images, one certainty is brought into crisp focus. This is, very simply and straightforwardly, a masterpiece."
— Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph (UK)
"With arresting images and hypnotic soundtrack, the film is one of the most singularly mesmerizing movie watching experience I've had in a long time."
— Dustin Chang, Floating World
"Offering a compelling, alien's-eye view of our murky human world, Under The Skin is dark, edgy, mysterious and very strange, with the most distinctive score since There Will Be Blood chipping away at our nerves."
— Graham Young, Graham Young Birmingham Mail
"Johansson is phenomenal in every sense of the word. She joins Glazer in creating a brave experiment in cinema that richly rewards the demands it makes. The result is an amazement, a film of beauty and shocking gravity."
— Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"Johansson provides an extraordinary window into an alien being; through her eyes, we see and hear the world as someone not from here would. Her performance is the payoff that makes Glazer's enigmatic storytelling choices so effective."
— Alonso Duralde, TheWrap
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