Darker than the usual Almodovar, The Skin I Live In is a psychological thriller as acclaimed plastic surgeon Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas) secretly develops a synthetic skin.
In memory of a wife seriously burned in a car accident, Ledgard uses Vera (Elena Anaya) as his human guinea-pig at a fully-equipped home clinic. But, a prisoner, not all is as it seems. Weaving a back story of the death of his wife and suicide of daughter Norma (Blanca Suárez) several years later, The Skin I Live In slowly evolves into a narrative of obsession, sexual tension and revenge.
Surprisingly restrained, as clinical and sterile as the surgeon’s operating theatre, Almodovar’s adaptation of the novel Mygale by Thierry Jonquet would benefit from a little more passion: it’s Vera’s story, revealed as the narrative develops, that highlights the coldness of life at the Ledgard home. Yet it remains stylish, twisted and intriguing.
Rating: 71%
Director: Pedro Almodóvar ((High Heels, Julieta)
Writer: Pedro Almodóvar ((High Heels, Julieta) – adaptation of the novel by Thierry Jonquet
Main cast: Antonio Banderas (Pain & Glory, The Laundromat), Elena Anaya (Talk To Her, Wonder Woman), Jan Cornet (Risen, There Be Dragons)
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