It’s one of those things where I thought I knew I what I was getting myself into. I hadn’t read the book, or even watched the trailer, but I’ve seen Ex Machina and some Tarkovsky, and the premise of an all-female cast in a slow, unnerving, batshit science fiction film that looks like it was shot through an hallucinogenic Instagram filter was apparently enough to make me forget what happened to me when I watched Under the Skin.
I finally saw this and, well, I highly recommend the book. I probably would have liked the film if I hadn’t read it? They changed almost everything, and while that in itself is not a valid criticism, I thought they dumbed it down a lot. I really loved the Biologist/Ghost Bird in the book (no one in the book has a name); she was such a specific and recognizable weirdo introvert, and the film tried so hard to make her ‘relatable’ they landed on generic. I don’t even want to talk about everything else I wish they’d done because if you’ve just seen the film you’re still almost entirely unspoiled for the book! I swear I am not usually that guy. I will go on about how the film of Fahrenheit 451 is better than the book until the cows come home.
I did really enjoy the music. I thought half of the visuals were great, and the other half looked like someone had hastily yarn-bombed a forest.
Oh my god I do…feel that last paragraph, and I am laughing. V good descrip.
I mean, catch me n e v e r reading a book before watching the movie, for this exact reason! I really like liking things, and so far it seems I’m able to double the amount of things I like if I watch the movie first just on its own.