--- title: "Under the Skin: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/under-the-skin/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/under-the-skin" critics_score: 72 critics_reviews: 20 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Under the Skin (2014): what the critics said Critics' score 72 from 20 reviews: 16 positive, 1 mixed, 3 negative. Most critics admire it, and the praise gathers in the same places. Scarlett Johansson’s near-silent performance as the alien is singled out again and again, as is Mica Levi’s score, which several reviews credit with much of the film’s unease. Glazer’s decision to strip away the novel’s backstory and shoot on the streets of Glasgow is widely taken as the film’s strength: an alien’s-eye view of ordinary humanity, cold at first, then something closer to pity. The reservations cluster around the absence of plot and the slow, elliptical pacing. The spread is wide: three of twenty reviews are outright negative. The Hollywood Reporter, writing from a festival screening, finds it loses coherence and offers too little substance beneath the images. The New Yorker argues the alien’s inner life is never developed and the music is left to do the work. The Times goes furthest, calling it pretentious and a reductive parable of womanhood. ## Little White Lies — Violet Lucca Rating 5/5/5. 13 March 2014. The review celebrates the film's hypnotic visuals, Mica Levi score and philosophical depth as a feminist sci-fi fable that lingers powerfully. It singles out a harrowing beach sequence for its icy matter-of-fact depiction of human vulnerability and opportunism. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/under-the-skin) ## The Telegraph — Robbie Collin Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 13 March 2014. Collin calls the film a masterpiece, praising its astonishing, abstract approach that strips the story to its essentials and renders Johansson iconic as the nameless alien femme fatale. He highlights the extraordinary score and the film's hypnotic blend of realism and surrealism. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/10694337/Under-the-Skin-review.html) ## Film Comment — Jonathan Romney Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). The critic praises Glazer's audacious, experimental approach to the alien narrative and its defamiliarizing effect on human experience. Johansson delivers a singular, alert performance amid vérité footage and striking, otherworldly imagery. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/under-the-skin-jonathan-glazer-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Betsy Sharkey Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 April 2014. Sharkey describes the film as a genesis moment of sci-fi fable and performance, urging viewers to surrender to its primal, sensory experience and abstraction. She singles out Scarlett Johansson’s fearless, emotionally baring work as the alien protagonist becomes more human, along with the authentic street scenes and Mica Levi’s unsettling score. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-under-the-skin-20140404-story.html) ## Sight and Sound — Sam Wigley Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 13 March 2014. The critic highlights Glazer's austere, estranging approach that turns Scotland into an alien landscape and uses the alien protagonist's gradual awakening to explore what it means to be human. He praises the film's clinical detachment and rigorous ending that avoids sentimentality. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-under-skin) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 13 March 2014. Bradshaw finds the film visually stunning and deeply disturbing, a pure injection of mood that blends futuristic body horror with social-realist grit in Glasgow streets. He singles out the casting of Scarlett Johansson as the ultimate alien predator and the film's eerie, erotic power. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/13/under-the-skin-scarlett-johansson-peter-bradshaw) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2014. Glazer transforms the source material into an abstract, sensory-driven exploration of the death drive and estrangement, using striking visuals, sound, and Johansson's performance to evoke alienation and subtextual unease. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/under-the-skin/) ## Evening Standard — David Sexton Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 17 March 2014. The film is a visually and sonically striking experience best approached without expectations of conventional narrative or sci-fi thrills, rewarding viewers who surrender to its dreamy, alien perspective on humanity. Johansson is disturbingly effective as the detached, repellent-yet-compelling alien figure in real-world situations. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/under-the-skin-film-review-scarlett-johansson-is-disturbingly-good-9191886.html) ## IndieWire — Chris Willman Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 April 2014. Glazer's film is a seductive, atmospheric sci-fi tale centered on Johansson's alien figure navigating human (and inhuman) encounters in Scotland. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-jonathan-glazers-seductive-girl-who-fell-to-earth-pic-under-the-skin-starring-scarlett-johansson-87547/) ## The New York Times — Stephen Holden Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 4 April 2014. Holden calls the film a cerebral sci-fi horror fantasy and praises Scarlett Johansson’s indelible performance as an extraterrestrial femme fatale whose predatory allure evokes classic Hollywood icons. He highlights how the movie dispenses with the novel’s backstory to create a mood of nightmarish alienation and ends with an image that challenges notions of human identity. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/04/movies/scarlett-johansson-as-a-deadly-alien-in-under-the-skin.html) ## Empire — William Thomas Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 11 May 2012. Festival review. Glazer's adaptation is frustrating and bewildering rather than the sexy thriller suggested by the source novel, yet it contains moments of beauty and horror that provoke thought and debate. Johansson delivers a quietly brilliant, brave performance as the awakening alien figure. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/skin-2-review/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 12 September 2013. Festival review. The film is a visually and aurally striking conundrum that loses momentum and coherence, delivering too little dramatic or intellectual substance for most viewers despite strong images and score. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/under-skin-film-review-627838/) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 4 April 2014. Brody finds the premise promising but criticizes the film for leaving the alien’s perspective and inner life completely undeveloped, relying instead on insistent music for eeriness. He notes one strong shot of Johansson on a Glasgow street but concludes that the movie flattens images and thoughts in advance, remaining orthodox realism despite its sci-fi basis. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/alien-scarlett-johansson) ## The Times — Camilla Long Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 16 March 2014. Long delivers a scathing verdict, hating the film's pretentious lack of dialogue or plot and its reductionist, misogynistic parable of womanhood. She singles out the empty, mind-numbingly absurd execution as a clumpy disappointment. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/the-zero-theorem-and-under-the-skin-cts7kdpqpb0) ## Paste — Scott Wold Rating 8.9. 3 April 2014. The critic praises the film's success in conveying an otherworldly perspective through visual and auditory means, noting its meditation on humanity and strong performances. They single out the stunning cinematography and Mica Levi's score for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/under-the-skin) ## Consequence Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 11 April 2014. The review describes the film as one of the scariest of 2014, highlighting its immersive nightmare quality and exploration of what it means to be human. It singles out Scarlett Johansson's career-best performance and the tragic awakening of empathy within the character for praise. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2014/04/film-review-under-the-skin/) ## Den of Geek — Ryan Lambie Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 13 March 2014. The film is an intimate, disturbing and powerful sci-fi art piece that offers an alien's-eye view of humanity. It is difficult and unsettling from start to finish, but ultimately brilliant for its fresh perspective. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/under-the-skin-review-2/) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating B+. 1 April 2014. The critic finds the film an elliptical, Roeg-like sci-fi tale of an alien seductress whose growing empathy creates tension with her mission. Johansson is perfectly cast in the lead and the imagery is striking, though the somber pacing and themes may limit mainstream appeal. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/review-jonathan-glazers-seductive-girl-who-fell-to-earth-pic-under-the-skin-starring-scarlett-johansson-20140401/) ## Digital Spy — Emma Dibdin Rating 4/5. 11 March 2014. Glazer has created a captivating nightmare that is strange, ambiguous and haunting, with Johansson giving a mesmerizing, near-silent performance as the alien developing empathy. The disorienting power stems from both its otherworldliness and familiar horror in the climax. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a553467/under-the-skin-review-scarlett-johansson-haunts-in-mesmerising-sci-fi/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 2 April 2014. The critic describes the film as enigmatic and hypnotic, praising its use of sound, music, and elliptical narrative to create a disorienting atmosphere. Scarlett Johansson's performance is singled out as providing an extraordinary window into an alien perspective. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/skin-review-alien-arthouse-oblique-scarlett-johansson-puzzler/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/under-the-skin.md