The Skin I Live In

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  • Opened October 14, 2011 (Limited 10/14)
  • 1 hr 57 min
  • R | sexual assault, language, strong sexuality, drug use, disturbing violent content and graphic nudity

  • Parents: Common Sense Media says not for kids. More on child suitability

  • Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr. Robert Ledgard, an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her. After twelve years, he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault. In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed three more things: no scruples, an accomplice, and a human guinea pig. Scruples were never a problem. Marilia, the woman who looked after him from the day he was born, is his most faithful accomplice. And as for the human guinea pig… Full synopsis

  • Cast: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes, Jan Cornet, Roberto Alamo
  • Director: Pedro Almodóvar
  • Genres: Art House/Foreign, Drama

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Fan Reviews

Must Go!
careful what u wish for

by carx15

Extraordinary, concept, plot et al. Afterthought, yes, why not. What an very interesting ploy for revenge. Although the cast was miniscule (a few) and settings hypothetically simple, this did not...

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The Skin I Live In

by theresa629kendrick

Beware, Almodovar once again delivers! This film asks unsettling questions. If you don't come out of this Almodovar film in discomfort, you and I have not seen the same movie. He doesn't use the...

Must Go!
Insanity

by Drivebri

I loved this film ! Pedro Almodovar has surprised me again with a fresh story, stellar acting , beautiful cinematography.I will be thinking about this odd gem of a movie for a long time .Obsess over...

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Critic Reviews

90
Wall Street Journal
| Joe Morgenstern

Ultimately an original film that forces us, time and again, to reconsider what we think we've just seen, and what we're sure we feel - not only about mere appearance, or fateful gender, but about who, under our skin, we truly are. Read full review

88
Rolling Stone
| Peter Travers

Even when the film's frigid elegance, perfectly captured by cinematographer José Luis Alcaine, becomes off-puttingly clinical, Almodóvar's passion burns through. The skin he lives in is alive to challenge no matter what warped form it takes. Read full review

88
Miami Herald
| Rene Rodriguez

By the end of the movie, when all your questions have been answered, you're left with the exhilarating high of having been manipulated by a gifted artist in a diabolically dark mood. Read full review

83
Entertainment Weekly
| Lisa Schwarzbaum

Allusions to "Vertigo," "Rebecca," and Georges Franju's great 1960 French horror movie "Eyes Without a Face" are intentional: The Skin I Live In is, above all, the creation of a movie fanatic who loves to look. Read full review

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Antonio Banderas as Dr. Robert Ledgard and Elena Anaya as Vera in ``The Skin I Live In.''