You won't be disappointed!

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

According to Descartes, embodiment is the necessary concept for becoming complete human being. It is an idea of two things which are connected each other in order to unite into a mind which we call being. We have our brains and our bodies to fulfill this formation. In consideration of this notion, approaching "Dans ma peau" as crucial example of duality is an inevitable.In the very first scene where Esther get injured, she is not aware of her own wound. Therefore, we can create first opinions for objectification between her body and herself. When she goes to the doctor who jokes about if the leg belongs to her or not, we can get the further idea of objectification that leads disconnection which is already started between Esther and her body. According to French philosopher Gabriel Marcel, there are two ways in the act of knowing: primary reflection and secondary reflection. In primary reflection, we place ourselves out of the things we are viewing. In this approach, my body is just a body and nothing else. It is like an object. However, when we look at the secondary reflection, we recognize that we are part of things we are viewing. It is my body that is uniquely mine. Hence, we cannot simplify our bodies like we do in the primary reflection. This is the case that Esther encounters. She sees her body as an instrument apart from her being. It is like an extension of herself, just as her cloths are extension of her skin. She has her body unlike she is her body.The body works as a mediator to ensure connection with the outer world like a bridge or a wall to prevent from that connection which leads disconnection. We can see disconnection between Esther and her body obviously in the dinner scene. Esther is experienced her arm tears apart from her. She tries cutting her arm with the knife, but she feels nothing. Her arm disconnects from Esther and becomes an object especially just a meat. She finds that increasingly more alluring. After this exploration, Esther becomes attracted by her body pushing her to start exploring what is under her skin. This leads her to get a hotel room for communicating with her body in secrecy. Because, this is not something she can talk about to her boyfriend or her friends. She enjoys her self-mutilation. Unlike hating her own body, she definitely shows to us that she is in love with her body. She keeps her raw skins and even trying to dry them for having her own skin are indicators of fondness for her body.On the other hand, these acts of Esther can be interpreted as concerns about the social life. Indulging completely from herself with ignoring all her friends even her boyfriend is an anti-social behavior. This behavior creates another level of embodiment which is about the social constructivism. In the social constructivism, single human being and the society are fused into a single mind. Esther escapes this duality to ensures her independence and individualism.

In My Skin is a disturbing and very psychological film. It tells the story of a woman that injures herself at a party. Unaware of the severity of the leg wound, she doesn't discover it until later. She gets patched up, but is soon scratching away at the scars. What starts as morbid curiosity soon devolves into obsessional mutilation. The film focuses on self-mutilation in a very sickening way. This is a compulsion that can't be controlled. In typical horror fashion, it takes a serious and very real subject and amplifies it without becoming corny and gimmicky. It was interesting to see a woman destroy herself, which made it both tragic, but also strangely empowering. Overall I found it got to be a bit repetitive, and as the protagonist shoved away most people that cared for her, it just became a series of mutilations.

It's not very often I'm left with little to say about a film other than: what the f###? On the surface, In My Skin is the story of Esther, an upwardly mobile mid-30's professional woman with a loving boyfriend. In the eyes of society, she has it all but despite having it all, Esther is on the brink of a major collapse.Early on Esther's actions show she's willing to do whatever it takes to move up the corporate ladder: flirt with the boss, step on the back of her closest friend, etc. But why? Does Esther really want the career she strives towards or is she reluctantly doing what's expected of her? Esther literally opens up to something deeper, darker and more fulfilling when she accidentally gashes her leg open at a party. The bloody gash and torn flesh excite something within Ester, possess her and before long, turn her desires into a self destructive obsession.Her obsession grows, refusing her wound the ability to heal, re-opening it, probing it, slicing into it and slicing into other virgin patches of her flesh. Before long, Esther is seducing herself in a seedy hotel room, cutting into herself and in a very sexually suggestive manner, eating herself. Not surprising, Esther's obsession starts to negatively encroach on the idyllic life she's built around her: job, loving partner, friends; eventually these priorities fall down the hierarchical ladder, usurped by her narcissistic pursuit to consume herself. But before we reach any natural or logical conclusion to Esther's plight, we are suddenly left staring her in the eyes before the film abruptly ends, leaving us to ponder...what. the. f###?IMS is beautifully photographed, many shots abstracted by the use of extreme close ups and split screens, it is impossible to not feel somewhat seduced by the same fetishistic obsession that (no pun intended) consumes Esther. But beautiful or not, IMS is bloody, gory and not for the faint of heart. Every time Esther glides a gleaming knife over the surface of her bloodied skin, we cringe in anticipation of her next incision. De Van wants us to feel uncomfortable, she wants us to search for greater meaning, just as Esther does and since it's obvious there's a lot more going on than what we see on the surface, we dig deeper...just like Esther.While on one hand it's (literally) painfully obvious IMS is critiquing the way we live - in addition to our material and physical obsessions - it is impossible to truly understand why Ester goes as far as she does. Perhaps that's the point, that the effects of modern living won't relent until we are literally chewed up and spit out. I can't say for sure whether I'll ever resort to hacking chunks of my flesh off my body for consumption or preservation, but one thing is for sure, IMS is definitely food for thought.http://eattheblinds.blogspot.com/

In My Skin certainly has some problems; but one of these problems isn't originality, and while things such as a lack of a true plot formula and explanation for the central character's actions may put some viewers off, the film deserves huge credit for stepping out of the mainstream and delivering something a little different to what most film fans will be used to. France has emerged over the past few years as one of the major forces in modern horror cinema, and while this film can't really be judged on the same terms as some of its fellow gory French horrors; it surely does help to bolster the nation's position at the top of the pile. The film represents a big personal project for Marina de Van; who wrote, directs and stars in the film! The plot begins when the central characters injures her leg fairly badly at a party. She is confused by the fact that despite the injury, she didn't really feel any pain and it's not long before she begins experimenting with her body and pain tolerance; eventually becoming unable to refrain from slicing herself open.The film is very different to the average mainstream horror and will not be well received in all circles. However, this certainly is a fascinating journey into a woman's 'discovery of herself' (for lack of a better term). The film does lack a defining point and becomes a voyeuristic look into what can only be described as the central character's disease. The film must then rely on its central character and set pieces, and the writer/director/lead actress definitely does deliver in this area. The film is not short on blood, but it's all used well and never feels gratuitous. The real power of the film comes from depicting the character's experiments on herself; I can generally stomach any amount of disgusting gore, but seeing the character here slice herself open had me squirming and that is testament both to the way we are made to care for the character and the very realistic way that the film is portrayed. The film is carried by the lead actress who is always the star despite some good supporting performances. Marina de Van can certainly be very proud of her work on this one! The appeal of this film can only go so far, but personally I loved it and will not hesitate to recommend that everyone at least gives it a look!