It isn't often that a film offers a heroine who is this aggressive, angry and self-punishing, and the filmmaker and her star work in perfect harmony to get at all the complexity behind it.
Comment
01/01/00
Under the Skin (1997)
86
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:22
Fresh:19
Rotten:3
Average Rating:6.8/10
Runtime: 85 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Iris (Samantha Morton, SWEET & LOWDOWN, JESUS' SON) a young working class English woman, loses herself in a string of casual lovers as a way of coping with the death of her beloved mother (Rita... [More]
Starring: Claire Rushbrook, Samantha Morton, Rita Tushingham, Stuart Townsend
Director: Carine Adler
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Reviews for Under the Skin
Adler does a remarkable job of conveying the kind of anguished soul sickness that is at a loss for words or conventional expression.
01/01/00
Morton makes Iris real. Every moment she's on screen, the actress forces us to accept Iris as a living, breathing individual.
01/01/00
Top CriticWhat makes it watchable is the performance from Samantha Morton, who is riveting.
01/01/00
Reminds us what it's like to see an actress go to work when she has a juicy role to play.
01/28/02
Adler's screenplay is excellent; it isn't often that a film takes an insightful look at how people can become unraveled.
01/01/00
Delightfully freighted with heavy sensuality, some deadpan comedy, and a character whose loneliness should strike a chord in all of us.
01/01/00
... a raw and occasionally depressing first film with moments of chilling recognition and a remarkable young star.
08/08/02
While Ms. Morton embodies the role with furious intensity and with a raw yet waifish presence that brings both Emily Watson and Claire Danes to mind, Ms. Adler directs the film in ways that live up to its title.
01/01/00
Top CriticAdler's portrait of emotional disintegration is in many ways as harrowing as Roman Polanski's Repulsion, thanks in large part to Morton's terrifying performance.
01/01/00
After a promising beginning ... the crux of the story ... is taken for granted and any established empathy for Iris' sad plight dwindles fast.
01/01/00
I would not want to spend much time with this Iris, and frankly the 85 minutes Under the Skin runs is longer than anyone should have to spend with her.
01/01/00
It is buoyed by an unflinching performance from newcomer Samantha Morton, a young British actress who is willing to expose not only her body but her inner being as well.
01/01/00
Top CriticMade with a novelist's eye for detail and a quietly impassioned visual flair.
01/01/00
Top CriticIn her feature debut, Adler shapes her film gracefully and elicits a scorching no-holds-barred, totally selfless portrayal from Morton.
02/14/01
Top CriticIn what is one of the great “woman-descends-into-madness” flicks alongside “Repulsion,” Morton is never less than searing.
01/02/03
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04/25/03
Top CriticClick to read the article
12/06/05
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