MovieChat Forums > Under the Skin (2014) Discussion > One major problem with this movie (Spoil...

One major problem with this movie (Spoilers, maybe)

posted 8 years ago by Xasablanc
11 replies | jump to latest

And I don't think this was intentional by the filmmakers.

I didn't know that she was an alien on a mission until the very end. In fact, I found out that she was an alien only after reading about it on this forum! Before that, and only because of the last scene, I was thinking she might be an android.

It's is vital for the appreciation of this movie to know that she is an alien harvesting humans and that the guy on the motorcycle is her accomplice. Without that, you have a sexually deviant women who picks men up and possibly kills them (I was expecting to see all the men chained in a dungeon or something at some point) and a guy that pops up now and then and you don't know why.

So, basically, had the director properly established from the outset that we are dealing with an alien on a mission, my experience of this movie would have been quite different, for the better.

Was it intentional to leave it vague at the beginning and have the revelation as a "twist" at the end? Or was it just badly executed?

Knowing what I know now about the plot, and had it been executed more effectively, this movie would've been a 7 or even 8, instead of a weak 6.

True Self is righteous. It's a conspiracy to portray Man as a savage that needs taming and policing.

[–] MycroftHolmes 8 years ago

I feel exactly the opposite. I enjoyed not knowing what exactly was going on. I thought for a while that they were some sort of vampires, but her lack of knowledge of humans led me to think aliens. I liked the not knowing.

What we got here is... failure to communicate!



[–] Xasablanc 8 years ago

OK, so should I take it to be a conscious decision by the filmmakers to leave it (extremely) vague and have it as a twist at the end? If so, my personal experience of the film suffered immensely. Constantly thinking "wth is going on?" throughout the movie is simply too stressful and off-putting.

If I may ask, MycroftHolmes: what in the movie made you think that she lacked knowledge about humans? Apart from the sex-attempt (with the guy she met at the bus-stop) towards the end, I can't think of anything that suggested that she was a none-human. And I know that that was a "sex-attempt" only because I read about it on this forum.

I don't mean that everything in the movie needs to be spelled out, nothing left to the imagination, but I feel that the balance wasn't struck in this case, which I take as a failure from the director's part.

True Self is righteous. It's a conspiracy to portray Man as a savage that needs taming and policing.

[–] MycroftHolmes 8 years ago

She did seem knowledgable about some things, but clueless about other things. I really can't think of why now, but I had a feeling that while she knew some useful things (how to drive etc...) , she was a fish out of water.

What we got here is... failure to communicate!



[–] MycroftHolmes 8 years ago

Also, did you get the idea that the skins were still alive? Like the human was still in there somehow? I thought that when the guy in the black stuff gut "sucked out" his face was still looking around a little. I may have to watch this again.

What we got here is... failure to communicate!



[–] Xasablanc 8 years ago

Not knowing what the hell was going on, I first took the humans walking in and through the black liquid and them getting emptied, to be symbolic (of something)! The room they were in seemed endlessly big, unlike anything real/logical. But considering that it wasn't symbolic but "real", was it another dimension? All we are given by the filmmakers is that "they are aliens and they can do whatever they want". I find that kind of film-making irritating, bordering cheating.

I think watching it again and this time knowing the score will be a different, perhaps better, experience but I just don't feel it's worth it. I'm not giving them a second chance, especially since they seem to take a second viewing for granted, if not actually making it a must, which is also not OK. Second viewings are supposed to be complementary, not like watching a completely different movie from the first one.

True Self is righteous. It's a conspiracy to portray Man as a savage that needs taming and policing.

[–] MycroftHolmes 8 years ago

Well, I must admit that I don't know the rules for rematching a movie. I didn't even know there were any. The black pools inside old buildings was pretty weird, I grant you. I'm not even sure I would like it as much the second time, but I found this movie so interesting I'll probably give it another go. At least I'll see ScarJo in the buff again!

What we got here is... failure to communicate!



[–] Xasablanc 8 years ago

Yeah, the whole ScarJo is yummy but I think I'll move on to another movie and leave it to chance to come across this one again. As some forum user's signature says: so many movies, so little time. :)

True Self is righteous. It's a conspiracy to portray Man as a savage that needs taming and policing.

[–] MycroftHolmes 8 years ago

So true. Sometimes by the time I finally pick something to watch, (with Netflix, AMAZON, HBO, etc....) I don't have time to watch!

What we got here is... failure to communicate!



[–] thunderkenna 8 years ago

Constantly thinking "wth is going on?" throughout the movie is simply too stressful and off-putting.

This was my experience with the film. I only watched it because I had read the book a few years ago. If I hadn't read the book, I would have given up on the film very early on. As it was, I knew what was going on and I was waiting for the film to explain things. It never did. And it left out the entire point of the book. The film never explains who she is or why she's there or what she's doing or why she changes her mind about what she's doing. Sure, it's pretty. Big deal. I watch films for the story or the character development and the film simply lacks both. The book has a similarly disappointing, abrupt end but at least it explained a few things and gave us something to chew over in our minds so that perhaps we could grow and change as humans. The film was just a huge, frustrating waste of time. I wouldn't bother with a second viewing. Knowing what was supposed to be going on did not improve the experience, it only heightened my frustration.

[–] Mehki_Girl 8 years ago

It was intentional.

Now go back and watch again and pick up on what you missed.

[–] KutWrite 8 years ago

I liked the vagueness, as it got my curiosity and imagination going.

Here's the character arc I got for ScarJo's character: (SPOILERS)

1. Blank slate being either created or taught English and given human appearance.
2. Task: Lure single, unattached men into goo for reprocessing... Alien Soylent Red?
3. Motorcycle guys (I counted 4) are the "cleaners" to remove evidence. Apparently her mission is very focused and doesn't include that.
4. Gazing into that mirror, she begins to feel human, e.g. curiosity, then pity for insects and for that deformed guy.
5. I think the motorcycle guy "cleaned" the deformed guy, as he was a witness, and maybe also valuable Soylent material.
6. I think the one motorcycle guy felt a tinge of humanity when he also gazed. I later got that feeling when he viewed that beautiful vista* and, I believe, knows the ScarJo character has died. Maybe he saw the smoke; maybe something telepathic.
(* the IMDB Trivia lists that scene as recreating a famous old painting)
7. She continues her attempt at humanity by trying to eat the cake. That doesn't work, and we get another hint of her origin being non-human and not convertible.
8. She meets the bus-stop guy and tries humanity in another way: Love-making. It doesn't work because she doesn't have all the parts. This seems to shock her (the scene with the lamp).
9. Failing at that, she's cast adrift, belonging neither with her kind (or creators) nor humans. She's also lost any powers of defense she might have had, and is thus as vulnerable as her former victims.
10. Meeting the evil guy, she can no longer defend or destroy. Running only causes her demise. I was shocked and sad for that. At the beginning she gave me the creeps. So for me that was an arc!

Someone else wondered if she was an alien, Selkie or... ? I thought she was a converted or created being from another dimension. That would explain the endless room with black goo, and why she could walk on it, and humans sank in it without even noticing.

I thought too, maybe she had some hypnotic power, which made the guys follow her despite sinking into the goo. Then, maybe the chemical kept them half-conscious until "popping" time. That was a great effect, I though.

All in all, I love movies that take us where we will (hopefully) never go and show us new worlds and concepts. This is one of them.

Side note: Yesterday, I watched a VERY disturbing and violent movie: "Irreversible." I kept wondering what would happen if the ScarJo character met up with the horrible, evil, violent guy in that movie.

Haha! A sort of "Alien vs Predator" matchup.