The Skin I Live In | 100 Movies Bucket List

 

I'd heard of this movie in passing but never knew what it was about so it was a bit of a random pick!

I had really mixed feelings about this film. I completely disliked the first hour, but by the end I liked it more than I thought I was going to.

It took a little while for me to really get into this. It can be hard to work out exactly what's going on, and even when you get it, you're left wondering what it can actually be about.

There's a lot going on here, especially in the first 30 minutes or so - it's hard to keep up with all the characters and how they fit into the story.

I didn't really know how to feel for a really long time. I didn't feel anything for the characters, the story itself wasn't particularly gripping, and a couple of unexpected scenes just bothered me to the point where I ended up with a negative impression of the film as a whole.

It moved slowly and quickly at the same time. So much happened that I felt like I couldn't keep up, but then looking at the timing it seemed like it should have been a lot further ahead than it was. 

By an hour in I felt like I'd been watching it for at least 3, and had only liked about 10 minutes of it, to be generous. At that point I was sticking with it to scratch it off the list, and for the promised twist (and the hope that the twist would make me do an entire 180 and love the film as a whole).

But until that point it did feel like a slog to get through.

That being said, after the first hour the story did get a lot more interesting. I enjoyed looking into the past much more than staying in the present.

The performances were great, all of the actors did a good job with their characters - though I can't say I loved the way some of them were written.

The twist was an interesting one. It wasn't as shocking as I thought it would be, and I wasn't as surprised as I could have been, but it did add some depth to the film that I really enjoyed.

But I can't say I did a full 180. I did like it more by the end than I thought I would. And while I can't say I fully understand why it's considered a classic, I am glad I've seen it.

Just adding an edit after sitting with the film for a couple of weeks, and I definitely like it more looking back than I did in the moment. I appreciate the originality and the lengths it went to to tell this story more in hindsight - though the word 'disturbing' is one I keep coming back to to describe it - which can definitely be an element of good horror!