Under the Skin

Scarlett Johansson stars in this spellbinder as an alien driving around Scotland in a hot Scar Jo body picking up men and doing very, very strange things to them. Director Jonathan Glazer uses minimal dialogue and actual, unsuspecting men on the street—some of the men Johansson talks to have no idea they are being filmed—for a chilling effect that will haunt you long after you leave the theater. This is the sort of intelligent science fiction and horror that was so prevalent during the heydays of Stanley Kubrick and William Friedkin, a brilliant exploration of alienation, victimization and the shallowness of obsession with outward appearances. While I can compare the work done here to the likes of Kubrick or Gaspar Noe, this is really unlike anything I've ever seen. There are moments so disturbing I wanted to run out of the theater, yet I couldn't look away. This will surely stand as one of the year's more unique, and more wonderfully disturbing, efforts. Yes, I'm giving it my highest rating, but this isn't for everybody. Heck, it isn't even for five percent of the population, so proceed with caution and don't yell at me if it freaks you out and causes permanent damage.