Written and Directed by: Marina de Van
Starring: Marina de Van, Laurent Lucas, Lea Drucker, Thibault de Montalembert, Dominique Reymond, Bernard Alane
Country: France
Running Time: 93 minutes
Year: 2002
BBFC Certificate: 18
When is a horror film not a horror film? That was a question I found myself asking repeatedly while watching In My Skin, a film frequently labelled as such and often listed alongside films from the French New Extremity movement. But, alongside the likes of Haute Tension, Inside and Martyrs, In My Skin feels out of place.
A semi autobiographical drama written and directed by Marina de Van as her first feature film, In My Skin tells the the story of Esther (de Van), a young woman who develops an intimate relationship with her own flesh following an accident at a party which leaves her with a large, life changing injury on her leg. As pressure mounts with a recent promotion at work, leading to a souring friendship with a colleague, Esther turns to self mutilation as both a way to relieve society’s pressures, but also as a way to take ownership of and explore her own body.
While an outlier in the New French Extremity scene, In My Skin’s closest cousin is perhaps Julia Ducourneau’s 2016 body horror drama, Raw (which I reviewed back in 2021 here: https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2021/04/raw/), a film which takes significant influence from de Van. Both films are remarkable pieces of work from first time female writer/directors, both handle themes of societal and peer pressures and stresses on young women and both explore extreme bodily changes that lead to varying degrees of empowerment. But where Raw is a much more slick and polished effort, In My Skin is far lower in budget, leading to a much… um… rawer effort.
There’s a degree of voyeurism to In My Skin as we are allowed to see Esther’s increasingly more extreme explorations of her own body, starting with simple cutting but proceeding to insertion of objects into her skin and even more extreme acts of cutting pieces of flesh away to keep as trophies. What’s interesting in the narrative throughout is that Esther never really hides the fact that she is doing any of this from those closest to her, telling both her partner and her best friend about her acts of harm, however their differing dismissal of her leads only to Esther’s desire to take things to darker places.
De Van stages some fascinating scenes as the story escalates including a particularly fascinating and extended scene juxtaposing a particularly mundane conversation with Esther’s increasingly twitchy and self destructive behaviour during a business lunch, while another scene sees Esther booking herself into a hotel to spend the night experimenting with different forms of mutilation; this is shot almost in a way that would suggest a couple stealing themselves away for an encounter during an affair.
On top of this, de Van’s script also explores themes of social isolation and the toxicity of office culture. These scenes in particular can be even more unsettling than those of Esther’s release, showing the increasing pressure on the woman’s mental health as her colleagues turn against her, she’s exposed to a toxic male influence at work and her partner Vincent’s (Laurent Lucas, who also appeared in Raw) barely surface level concerns about her obsessions which, instead of reaching out to support and understand what she is going through, manages to turn around into her being both selfish and self obsessed. It’s a remarkably layered drama which covers more ground than just being a simple “horror” film.
De Van writing and directing herself adds a layer of intimacy to the proceeding, not shying away from showing her own body in a number of nude scenes which are never played for eroticism, but are shot in a way that only adds to the sense of the filmmaker laying herself, quite literally, bare on the screen. The accompanying interview with de Van goes into detail about how the film was based heavily on her real life experiences while at film school and how her fellow students sought to exploit her honesty about self harm with their own tales, forcing her into writing this story.
While this will likely be a very uncomfortable watch for some viewers given the subject matter but it felt like an incredibly personal film for de Van who shoots Esther’s scenes of self mutilation with an almost loving camera. The actual scenes of self harm are certainly unsettling but, likely due to the films lower budget, are shot sparingly by the director who always knows where to put the camera. It’s never particularly explicit with its gore effects, often showing just enough to leave the remainder open to the viewers imagination, but as the film escalates so too does what de Van is willing to show you. The final scenes are devastating, beautifully shot in an extreme close up in split screen that gradually reveals the extent of Esther’s mental decline as she’s shrugged off by Vincent, demonstrating the extent of self mutilation she’s willing to go to. All of this is rendered even more intense by the films lack of a soundtrack, opting to let sound effects and ambient audio do the work.
In My Skin has featured in some lists of “disturbing” films I’ve recently seen and while I don’t disagree with that assertion, it’s a more complex film than something simply disturbing. It can be uncomfortable, unsettling, upsetting and heartbreaking. A difficult but powerful film taking a unique look at women’s mental health.
Bonus features
- New 4K restoration from the original camera negative by Severin Films
- 4K UHD Dolby Vision HDR and Blu-ray presentation of the feature
- Original 5.1 DTS-HD master audio
- Audio commentary by Marina de Van (2004)
- New interview with Marina de Van (2025, 26 mins)
- New interview with cinematographer Pierre Barougier (2025, 22 mins)
- New interview with acting coach Marc Adjadj (2025, 20 mins)
- New interview with critic Manuela Lazic (2025, 12 mins)
- Bleed Like Me – a new visual essay on the interplay between eroticism and violence in Marina de Van’s ‘cinema of transgression’ by Valeria Villegas Lindvall (2025, 11 mins)
- Two short student films by Marina de Van: Bien sous tous rapports (1996, 12 mins) and Retention (1997, 15 mins)
- Trailer
- Newly improved English subtitle translation
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by critic Savina Petkova and archival writing by Marina de Van
- Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
As well as the aforementioned interview with de Van, this new 4K release from Radiance presents a fantastic array of content, both old and new which dives into the film and its themes and opens up multiple reflections and interpretations. It’s certainly not the most extreme of the French New Extremity films, but it’s absolutely one of the most fascinating and this disc is an excellent showcase. This is all complemented by the new 4K transfer which is remarkable for a film that’s over 20 years old. There’s a very clean look to the picture which is frequently bright and vibrant despite the films dark subject matter.
In My Skin is absolutely recommended for fans of extreme films and early 2000s French cinema alike and this release is not one to be missed.