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Jonathan Glazer’s Under The Skin is set for a TV adaptation
Film+TV | 29 January 2020
Text Finn Blythe

When it was released in 2013 after almost a decade of deliberation and research by its director Jonathan Glazer, Under The Skin became one of the most divisive films of the decade (and by extension, the century). A masterpiece akin to Kubrick or a disjointed flop (earning just over $2 million)? It depends on who you ask.

What remains unequivocal however, other than the transcendent genius of Mica Levi’s score, is the film’s raw, emotive charge, powered by a superb performance from Scarlett Johansen. Set in northern Scotland and based on Michel Faber’s 2000 novel of the same name, Johansen plays an extraterrestrial in female form, who drives around in her van ensnaring men. With her irresistible erotic charm, she takes lures them back to her lair where they sink into an unctuous black abyss.

Almost seven years on from its release, Under The Skin is set to be adapted for television, with the likes of A24 and Silver Reel among those locked in a bidding war for its rights. Although the extent of Glazer’s involvement remains unclear, given his meticulous, decade-long journey to distill Faber’s original novel (and the fact he is currently working on a new Holocaust film with A24), his input will surely be felt.


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