A film starring Hollywood A-lister Scarlett Johansson that was partially filmed on a beach in Angus has been critically panned.
Under The Skin, which filmed for five days in Auchmithie, by Arbroath, was screened at the Venice Film Festival last night but the production is already reeling from a series of bad reviews from its appearance at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado.
Helmed by Sexy Beast director Jonathan Glazer, the film features Johansson as an extra-terrestrial who is sent to Earth by a rich corporation to pick up unwary hitchhikers and harvest their organs.
Scott Foundas, from Variety, said the film, was “undeniably ambitious but ultimately torpid and silly”.
He added: “Initial intrigue gives way to repetition and tedium.
“Glazer has always been longer on atmosphere and uncanny moods than on narrative, but the fatal flaw of Under the Skin isn’t that not much happens; it’s that what does happen isn’t all that interesting.”
Scott Feinberg, from the Hollywood Reporter, noted that several people walked out of the screening and described the film as “beautiful” but “plotless and pretentious”.
He said: “The film proved to be stylish but lacking in substance. Arresting images do not alone make for a great film.
“This one ambles along for only 108 minutes, but it feels a lot longer because so little actually happens during that time, and that which does is not all that interesting or enlightening.”
John Horn, in the LA Times, said the film “isn’t easy to watch” and notes that it has hardly any dialogue.
However, Gregory Ellwood, from respected industry website Hitfix, called the film “a near-masterpiece” while declaring “it has some of the most haunting images of the year and features the bravest performance of Scarlett Johansson’s career.”
A short trailer released earlier this week includes a clip of Johansson walking by crashing waves on the beach at Auchmithie.
The star of films such as Girl With A Pearl Earring and Iron Man caused a stir when she and a crew of 70 filmed for five days in Angus in October 2011.
She also performed scenes for the sci-fi film at a petrol station in Glasgow and in the Highlands.
The film, which is still seeking distribution in America, is due to be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival later this month.
It is based on a book by Scottish author Michel Faber, which was shortlisted for the 2000 Whitbread Award.