***WINNER – Best International Film – 2003 Fantasia Film Festival
In My Skin is a striking French psychological horror-drama written, directed by, and starring Marina de Van (8 Women) that serves as a visceral portrait of alienation, body autonomy, and the fracturing sense of self. The film follows Esther, an ambitious young professional whose life begins to spiral after a seemingly minor accident at a party. She injures her leg without realizing it, and the shock of feeling so disconnected from her own body sends her into an increasingly obsessive cycle of self-examination and, eventually, self-mutilation.
As Esther begins secretly cutting, exploring, and dissecting her own skin, In My Skin shifts into a disturbing but deeply introspective study of identity and control. Body horror filtered through serrated expectations of body image, it remains a powerful vision of feminine rage that will sink its teeth into you and never let go.
2002, 93 minutes, France, In French with English Subtitles, Directed by Marina de Van, Unrated (Treat as R)
“In My Skin takes that pain/pleasure principle and magnifies it until you're either dumbstruck or running screaming from the theater.”
– Ty Burr, BOSTON GLOBE
“Without deploying reductive backstory or simplistic psychology, this fearless movie -- easily the year's best debut feature -- illuminates Esther's pathology as an extreme response to the mind-body split.”
– Dennis Lim, VILLAGE VOICE
“The movie surely owes something to Polanski, Cronenberg, et al., in its use of an apparently placid, upper-middle-class setting as the background for perverse horrors, but De Van's fearless, high-wire performance is uniquely its own.”
– Scott Foundas, L.A. WEEKLY
“Marina de Van serves an incredibly powerful piece of cinema about the body, the connection to one’s own body, and life as a woman.”
– Emilie Black, CINEMA CRAZED
“The film puts the audience face to face with a horrifying self-emulation that seems borne out of our society's toxic pressures to conform to gender and beauty norms.”
– Justine Smith, MOVIE MEZZANINE
