The Skin I Live In

It takes a wild, sharp left turn halfway through, but Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In is one of his more complete and entertaining oddities in a long time. Per usual, the legendary Spanish filmmaker takes a unique look at sexuality, this time through a stylish thriller involving a surgeon (Antonio Banderas) who creates a synthetic skin for one of his patients. But why does she suddenly look so much like the surgeon’s late wife, and why is she being kept as something of a prisoner? Just who is this woman? The actress portraying the mystery patient is Elena Ayana, and even though Banderas is strong in his long-overdue reunion with Almodóvar, she is the glue (or maybe the sutures) that holds together The Skin I Live In.