The Skin I Live In
Antonio Banderas reunites with acclaimed director Pedro Almodovar (Talk to Her) to star in this skin-crawling Spanish thriller. Based on the novel Tarantula by Thierry Jonquet. Winner of Best Foreign Language Film at the 2012 BAFTAs.
A brilliant plastic surgeon (Banderas), haunted by death of his wife 12 years ealier, develops a synthetic skin capable of withstanding all damage. When his research is judged to be unconscionable, he kidnaps a young woman (Elena Anaya, Van Helsing) and keeps her captive in his house in order to continue the experiments.
- Director:
- Pedro Almodóvar ('Talk to Her', 'All About My Mother', 'Volver', 'Bad Education')
- Writer:
- Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast:
- Antonio BanderasElena AnayaMarisa ParedesRoberto ÁlamoJan CornetFernando CayoEduard FernándezBlanca SuárezBárbara LennieJosé Luis Gómez
Reviews & comments
Stylish, clever, but only skin-deep
Almodovar takes on a psychological thriller and produces a cleverly crafted and intriguing premise. An elegantly set up dark pyscho-sexual melodrama ... that just left me unmoved. In the same way that Banderas's character is obsessed with skin, Almodovar's focus is on the style and the exquisite texture of the film, but fails to delve into the psyche of the...
What's creepy in Spanish?
The Husband won tickets to this movie from Flicks. I hadn't realised it was in Spanish, not that it was a bad thing. I think it lent to the setting and characters. Banderas as Dr Ledgard is brilliant. He's cold, calculating and inevitably succumbs to his victim's charms. The movie itself is a bit 'Silence of the Lambs' for the creepy aspect. Some...
black fairy tale with a twist
The trailer had me expecting Silence of the Lambs meets Frankenstein and I wasn't thinking I'd enjoy it. The Spanish setting, culture and architecture transport a kiwi viewer and allows belief to be suspended for this black fairy tale. It is hard to review this without giving vital plot twists away so I will say this is a socially challenging movie, you...
Strange, yet compelling
With 'The Skin I Live In' Almodovar is clearly looking to shock and disturb his audience. In fact the film is strongly reminiscent of Kim Ki-duk's best works. Banderas is fantastic as the brooding doctor, whilst Anaya is a knockout. The story leads the audience down unexpected, and occasionally shocking, paths. A disturbing film, but one that is...
My kind of Horror
I've read references to Hitchcock and Vincent Price regarding the films tone and characters which I think is bang on. The lines the story takes are at times equally hilarious and horrifying. Captivating throughout, Almodovar's horror story is told with both frightening reality and a subvert perversity.
Weird and creepy.
I hadn't seen any of Almodovar's previous films, so wasn't sure what to really expect. I'd read up on the movie online to get a brief overview beforehand, so had a basic idea of the premise of the movie. A friend overseas had seen it and told me it gave her nightmares. I definitely found it weird and creepy, with quite a bizarre storyline. All in all I...
Excellent and Disturbing
Almodovar's expert craftsmanship of "The Skin I Live In" is parallel his central character's mastery of the art of skin surgery. At once engaging and fluid the narrative never becomes laborious or difficult. However there is a certain detachment: for all the nudity and sex it is barely sensual, for all the violence it is rarely terrifying. But at...
Variety
pressAlmodovar has taken an ice-cold psychological thriller and performed some stylistic surgery of his own, adding broad comic relief, overripe melodrama, outrageous asides and zesty girl-power uplift.
Total Film
pressHitchcock never quite went that far – but you suspect he’d have admired Almodóvar’s balls.
The New York Times
pressAn existential mystery, a melodramatic thriller, a medical horror film or just a polymorphous extravaganza. In other words, it's an Almodóvar movie with all the attendant gifts that implies: lapidary technique, calculated perversity, intelligent wit.
Roger Ebert
pressThough I usually take pleasure in Almodovar's sexy darkness, this film induces queasiness.
Los Angeles Times
pressThough Almodóvar has retained the creep factor of his source material, he hasn't fully embraced its darkness.
Hollywood Reporter
pressLike many lab experiments, this melodramatic hybrid makes for an unstable fusion.
Variety
pressAlmodovar has taken an ice-cold psychological thriller and performed some stylistic surgery of his own, adding broad comic relief, overripe melodrama, outrageous asides and zesty girl-power uplift.
Total Film
pressHitchcock never quite went that far – but you suspect he’d have admired Almodóvar’s balls.
The New York Times
pressAn existential mystery, a melodramatic thriller, a medical horror film or just a polymorphous extravaganza. In other words, it's an Almodóvar movie with all the attendant gifts that implies: lapidary technique, calculated perversity, intelligent wit.
Roger Ebert
pressThough I usually take pleasure in Almodovar's sexy darkness, this film induces queasiness.
Los Angeles Times
pressThough Almodóvar has retained the creep factor of his source material, he hasn't fully embraced its darkness.
Hollywood Reporter
pressLike many lab experiments, this melodramatic hybrid makes for an unstable fusion.
Stylish, clever, but only skin-deep
Almodovar takes on a psychological thriller and produces a cleverly crafted and intriguing premise. An elegantly set up dark pyscho-sexual melodrama ... that just left me unmoved. In the same way that Banderas's character is obsessed with skin, Almodovar's focus is on the style and the exquisite texture of the film, but fails to delve into the psyche of...
What's creepy in Spanish?
The Husband won tickets to this movie from Flicks. I hadn't realised it was in Spanish, not that it was a bad thing. I think it lent to the setting and characters. Banderas as Dr Ledgard is brilliant. He's cold, calculating and inevitably succumbs to his victim's charms. The movie itself is a bit 'Silence of the Lambs' for the creepy aspect. Some...
black fairy tale with a twist
The trailer had me expecting Silence of the Lambs meets Frankenstein and I wasn't thinking I'd enjoy it. The Spanish setting, culture and architecture transport a kiwi viewer and allows belief to be suspended for this black fairy tale. It is hard to review this without giving vital plot twists away so I will say this is a socially challenging movie,...
Strange, yet compelling
With 'The Skin I Live In' Almodovar is clearly looking to shock and disturb his audience. In fact the film is strongly reminiscent of Kim Ki-duk's best works. Banderas is fantastic as the brooding doctor, whilst Anaya is a knockout. The story leads the audience down unexpected, and occasionally shocking, paths. A disturbing film, but one that is...
My kind of Horror
I've read references to Hitchcock and Vincent Price regarding the films tone and characters which I think is bang on. The lines the story takes are at times equally hilarious and horrifying. Captivating throughout, Almodovar's horror story is told with both frightening reality and a subvert perversity.
Weird and creepy.
I hadn't seen any of Almodovar's previous films, so wasn't sure what to really expect. I'd read up on the movie online to get a brief overview beforehand, so had a basic idea of the premise of the movie. A friend overseas had seen it and told me it gave her nightmares. I definitely found it weird and creepy, with quite a bizarre storyline. All in all I...
Excellent and Disturbing
Almodovar's expert craftsmanship of "The Skin I Live In" is parallel his central character's mastery of the art of skin surgery. At once engaging and fluid the narrative never becomes laborious or difficult. However there is a certain detachment: for all the nudity and sex it is barely sensual, for all the violence it is rarely terrifying. But...
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