La Piel que Habito (2011)

Spain 120m, Colour
Director: Pedro Almodóvar; Cast: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes, Jan Cornet, Roberto Álamo

A psychological thriller reminiscent of Les Yeux sans Visage (1960), The Skin I live is about a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein who kidnaps a young man and performs sex reassignment surgery while testing out a new genetically altered skin that he has created. This is a surprisingly shocking story with a number of unexpected twists which are delivered with Hitchcock-like execution. By revealing much of the film’s plot in the first act, Almodóvar creates suspense by cleverly divulging the details of how the situation came to be throughout the balance of the film (Klaus Ming February 2016).