Scarlett Johansson Sci-Fi Thriller Under the Skin Streams Free on Tubi

In the internet era, many movies achieve secondary fame through clip culture. A single scene, joke, or frame goes viral independently of the movie itself. Everyone recognizes the GIF of Chow Yun-fat giving a thumbs-up, but few people know it comes from A Better Tomorrow II. Tobe Hooper’s Lifeforce features many elements, yet most horror fans recognize it strictly for Mathilda May and her nudist vampire role.

Selective editing often does the original work a disservice by stripping away context. It discards greater meaning to create another patch for internet discourse.

Under the Skin provides a clear example. It ranks as one of the creepiest movies of 2014, landed on several “best films of the 21st century” lists, and received numerous award nominations. However, the internet primarily remembers the film because Scarlett Johansson spends much of it in various states of undress. Consequently, short clips are easy to find, but few people have actually watched the entire feature. Fortunately, viewers now have simple options to correct that. Under the Skin streams for free on multiple platforms, making it easier than ever to watch the full movie.

What is Under the Skin about?

In Under the Skin, Johansson plays an unnamed woman who preys upon the lost and lonely inhabitants of a city in Scotland. When she finds a prospective victim, she lures them to an isolated location and makes them disappear.

In the 2000 novel that Under the Skin is based upon, the plot remains explicit. The woman named Isserley in the book serves as bait in an extraterrestrial trap, abducting humans to turn them into an expensive delicacy for an alien species.

Under the Skin offers a loose, Lynchian adaptation open to multiple interpretations. On the surface, it functions as an arthouse remake of Species, with Johansson tracking anyone who will not be immediately missed. No panicked government agents or conspiracy theorists explain the plot. All exposition comes directly from Johansson, which amounts to very little.

Digging deeper, the movie explores an alien’s first days as a human, serves as cultural commentary, or acts as an extended metaphor for sex and sexuality. Johansson’s protagonist appears fascinated by mundane details in her environment, ranging from ants to other people and her own body. Even when luring men to their deaths, she shows no particular vindictiveness. It is simply a task she performs.

This impersonal quality defines the movie’s style. Nearly 14 minutes pass before anyone speaks aloud in Under the Skin, and music frequently replaces dialogue. Hidden cameras film many scenes from strange angles, and the cast consists largely of amateurs or newcomers alongside Johansson. These choices make Under the Skin feel more like an alien reality show than a standard thriller.

The film’s initial box office failure makes sense given its unconventional nature. Under the Skin feels unsettling almost immediately, embracing long still shots reminiscent of student films. Viewers who persist find a film that leaves a lasting impression, with striking images that linger long after the credits roll.

In an unusual way, Under the Skin functions as the third and final installment of an informal trilogy where Johansson plays with her own screen image. At the time, Johansson had acted in films since she was 10 years old, achieved household name status at 19 following her breakout role in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, and recently starred in The Avengers.

The 2013 film Her features Johansson as the voice of Samantha, an AI-powered operating system who functions as a literal commodity. She followed that performance with 2014’s Lucy, where her title character overcomes abuse and neglect to become the most powerful entity on Earth. Under the Skin completes the trilogy by casting Johansson as a hidden threat concealed beneath celebrity skin.

All three roles represent bold choices for an actor at the height of her Avengers fame, serving as direct commentary on her public standing. This sequence forms Johansson’s Product Trilogy, where the star is a packaged item carrying a hidden warning label.

Under the Skin is now streaming for free on Tubi, Pluto TV, the Roku Channel, Plex, Fandango, and Xumo Play. It is also available on Netflix.

Source: Polygon