Search for the Beneath the Skin movie online and you’ll likely hit a wall of confusion. It’s a mess of titles. Most people are actually looking for Jonathan Glazer's 2013 masterpiece Under the Skin, starring Scarlett Johansson. Others might be hunting for the 1981 cult short film by Cecelia Condit. Or maybe that 2014 indie drama about a tattoo artist in Canada.
It’s easy to mix them up. The titles are basically twins.
But let’s get into the one that usually haunts people’s dreams—the Johansson one. It is a weird, cold, and beautiful piece of cinema that doesn't hold your hand. Honestly, it’s one of the few films that feels like it was actually directed by an alien. It doesn't use human logic.
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What the Beneath the Skin Movie (Under the Skin) Is Actually About
At its simplest? It’s about an alien. She takes the form of a woman, drives a white van around Scotland, and picks up lonely men.
She isn't there for a date. She lures them back to a "house" that isn't really a house. Once inside, the men strip down, entranced, and sink into a floor made of liquid black oil. It is terrifyingly quiet. They don't scream. They just... submerge.
The movie was filmed in a way that feels uncomfortably real. Glazer used hidden cameras. He had Scarlett Johansson—one of the most famous people on the planet—drive a van around Glasgow and talk to random guys on the street. Most of the men she talks to weren't actors. They didn't know they were being filmed until after the scene was over. That’s why the dialogue feels so awkward and raw. It's real life.
Why does she do it?
In the book by Michel Faber, the explanation is pretty grim. The humans are being processed for meat. They’re a delicacy on her home planet. But the movie? The movie tosses all that exposition out the window. It focuses purely on the alien's experience.
She starts as a tool. A predator. But then, things shift. She looks at herself in a mirror. She tries to eat a piece of cake (and fails). She meets a man with a facial deformity and, for the first time, shows something resembling mercy. She begins to develop a "self," and that is where everything starts to go wrong for her.
The 1981 Version: A Different Kind of Horror
If you aren't looking for the sci-fi flick, you might be thinking of Cecelia Condit's Beneath the Skin. This one is a short film, and it is arguably creepier because it’s based on a true story.
Condit actually dated Ira Einhorn, the "Unicorn Killer." He murdered his ex-girlfriend and kept her body in a trunk in his closet. Condit lived with him while that body was still in the house. Her film uses surreal imagery and a detached narration to process that trauma. It’s a foundational piece of "video art" that has found a second life on the internet recently.
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Why People Keep Getting the Title Wrong
Memory is a funny thing. "Under" and "Beneath" mean the same thing in casual conversation, so "Beneath the Skin movie" has become a common search term for both films.
- Under the Skin (2013): The sci-fi one with the van and the black liquid.
- Beneath the Skin (1981): The experimental short about a real-life killer.
- Beneath the Skin (2014): A gay romantic drama set in Canada.
The 2013 film is the one that usually sticks in the craw of pop culture. It’s famous for its score by Mica Levi—which sounds like a hive of angry bees—and for the way it treats the human body as just a suit of clothes.
What You Should Do Next
If you haven't seen the 2013 film, go watch it, but don't expect a traditional horror movie. It’s slow. It’s a "vibe" movie. Put the subtitles on because those Scottish accents are thick, and you’ll miss the subtle ways the men try to hit on her.
If you're more into true crime and avant-garde art, look up Cecelia Condit’s work on YouTube. Just be prepared—it’s not exactly "light" viewing.
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Check your streaming services for Under the Skin specifically if you want the Johansson version. Most platforms won't show it to you if you type "Beneath." It’s a small distinction that makes a big difference in what you end up watching.