Why is “Under the Skin” So Vague About the Lead Character’s Origins?
By stripping the film Under the Skin of any clear background, we focus more on the details we do see, which in this case involve a female protagonist, her exclusively male targets, and her different, uncomfortable behavior around other women. The result of this approach allows the director to focus on the elements of the story that interest him the most rather than locking him into a direct translation of the novel’s text.
The original book was about “an extraterrestrial sent to Earth by a rich corporation on her planet to pick up unwary hitchhikers. She drugs them and delivers them to her compatriots, who mutilate and fatten her victims so that they can be turned into meat.” However, most of these details are obscured or removed altogether. Yet, the book’s themes of sexual identity are left intact.