The Skin I Live In

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

2011 / 120min / 35mm

Described by Almodóvar as “a horror story without screams or frights,” his disquieting melodrama The Skin I Live In—which draws obvious influence from Georges Franju’s 1959 Eyes Without a Face—observes the unnerving co-dependent relationship of world-renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas) and his mysterious guinea pig (Elena Anaya), whom he treats to a series of increasingly grotesque procedures. Set up as though the simple story of a mad scientist and his captive, Almodóvar’s film progresses in unexpected directions that give proof to the old adage that appearances can often be deceiving.