New Weird: Under the Skin

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If I made a list of 50 movies that I think are great, Under the Skin would definitely be somewhere in the late twenties, early thirties. This movie explores alienation within one's own self and our world. While it's weird enough that this alien woman prowls the streets finding people to sacrifice to a black pool that then later shows what I can only describe as guts on a trow, the alien begins to realize how immoral her role is.

There are specific scenes and moments that I would deem to be beautiful and are great to look back on. For instance, in the beginning when the alien is taking over from the last who failed in her mission, there's a tear from the failed alien (telling us that she grew feeling and became more human) and an ant that the alien looks at --she's clearly never seen one before and has no feelings towards it. I also want to mention the way she watches her first victim slowly sink into the black pool, watching him like an animal. What I love about the ant scene is that later, the alien sees a trapped fly and almost cries. This triggers in her a response to the deformed man that she has taken in and she does the opposite of what she's been doing and sets the man free.

A scene that was also beautiful, due to how disturbing it was, was the scene where the alien watches as a family disaster takes place in front of her. There's nothing more chilling than the alien dragging the surfer away and leaving the infant crying on the shore as it gets dark out.

After the alien rejects her mission we are carried through her travel as she deals with life, death, love, sex, and being hunted. She struggles and attempt to be human because she finds her own humanity, but will never be a human.

This movie is great because of how weird it is. If you go into it, knowing that there are going to be lots of questions, you'll enjoy it. One of the best moments is when she tries so hard to be human, but is rejected and we finally see under her skin. There's a sense of connecting and not connecting with humans and civilization that amazing here too. It is the goodness that she finds in people that ends in her downfall.

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