'In Her Skin' Depicts Troubled Woman Alienated by Mother, Misunderstood by Father

In Her Skin is a small, independent Australian film that I knew nothing about, having not heard any buzz or reviews about it.

Starting off slow for me, In Her Skin really picked up in the second half. Mostly, I see this one as a detailed case study on a deeply troubled young woman who is alienated by her mother and misunderstood and disregarded by her father. She has no friends. She does not get the professional help she desperately needs. So she resorts to stalking and obsessing over a girl for whom she occasionally baby-sits.  

No one around this girl steps in to help her … though her behavior has been suspect for a while. No one really cares enough to notice her. And that’s truly what this disturbed young woman named Caroline craves … notice. She’s completely ignored by life since she’s overweight and has acne and is far from a ravishing beauty. She believes she is a nobody because she has no evidence to the contrary. 

The first part of the film is told from the point of view of the mother. The second … from the father’s POV. These scenes are slow and agonizing, watching parents mourn the loss of a missing child, Rachel.

Finally, when we get to the POV of Caroline, the momentum of the story picks up and the movie begins to come together. From the POV of the parents, we get a sense of urgency at finding their missing child, but with the scenes from Caroline’s POV, we find out the WHY and the HOW behind the crime. 

The star of this film is Ruth Bradley, an Irish actress who is flawless as Caroline. For a time, I forgot I was watching a film and began thinking I was watching a real case study or documentary of a disturbed young woman. Bradley is just the right level of anxious, frightened, apprehensive, and unhinged. When it comes time for the pivotal scene when Caroline and Rachel come together, I was actually nervous the acting was so convincing.

One of my favorite actors, Sam Neil, also deserves notice as the distanced and uninvolved father who should and could have stepped in to help his daughter before her behavior escalated to this. The film shows him having ample opportunity to rescue Caroline. All of the warning signs were there and the father chose to ignore them … mostly because he could not accept that his daughter was as troubled as she truly was. 

Not for everyone … but for those looking for either stellar acting performances and/or a good, solid drama with a fair amount of “real-life” chills, check this one out. 

In Her Skin: 2009, rated R, 108 minutes, directed by Simone North, starring Guy Pierce, Miranda Otto, Sam Neil and Ruth Bradley.  The Niles Public Library owns this title on DVD.