Released 1997
Stars Samantha Morton, Claire Rushbrook, Rita Tushingham, Stuart Townsend, Christine Tremarco
Directed by Carine Adler

There are times when a performance can carry an entire motion picture, and Under the Skin is a stunning debut by 20 year-old Samantha Morton. The film is an examination of unresolved grief, and the way it can erode a person's identity. Iris (Samantha Morton) and Rose (Claire Rushbrook) are sisters. Iris is the younger, wilder child; Rose, who is five years older, is happily married and pregnant. The two of them are subtle rivals for the love and attention of their aging mother (Rita Tushingham), but, when Mum dies unexpectedly, it widens the gulf between the two girls rather than bringing them together. Rose reacts to the tragedy as one might expect. She is sad and cries, then gets on with her life. Iris, however, doesn't shed a tear and shows contempt for her sister's grief, but her personality starts to disintegrate. She begins a search for something (comfort? affection? attention?) that throws her into a downward moral spiral of sex-and-alcohol binges.

Morton makes Iris real. Every moment she's on screen, the actress forces us to accept Iris as a living, breathing individual. This is a raw, riveting performance--deeply moving and free of artifice. Morton handles the complete range of emotions expertly, from the subtle (watch the longing in her face as she observes a choir singing) to the overt (a wrenching breakdown). In committing herself totally to this portrayal, she gives Adler everything she has, allowing herself to be captured on camera in a state of both physical and emotional nakedness.

Before being picked up by Arrow Entertainment for a limited U.S. theatrical run, Under the Skin made its way around the festival circuit, playing to world-wide acclaim. It won the 1997 Toronto Film Festival International Critics Award, the 1997 Edinburgh International Film Festival Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature, and was an official selection for the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. While such a landslide of recognition doesn't always guarantee quality, this is a case when at least a portion of the accolades is deserved. Under the Skin is a fine movie, and features one of the best debut performances [Morton] of the year.

Summary by James Berardinelli