The Skin I Live In

Lore & Background

The film follows plastic surgeon Robert Ledgard, who cultivates an artificial skin resistant to burns and insect bites. He holds captive a young woman named Vera on his secluded estate, where he continues illegal transgenic experiments. The plot unfolds through flashbacks revealing that Ledgard's daughter Norma was raped at a wedding six years earlier, leading to her suicide. Ledgard kidnapped the perpetrator, Vicente, and over six years transformed him into a replica of his late wife, renaming him Vera.

Reader's Guide

The Skin I Live In marked the first collaboration in 21 years between Almodóvar and Banderas since Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990). Almodóvar described the film as 'a horror story without screams or frights.' It was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and 16 Goya Awards. The film's critical reception was generally favorable, with an 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 70 out of 100. Critics noted Almodóvar's exploration of identity, blood ties, and genetic traits within a horror framework.

Did You Know?

• The film is based on Thierry Jonquet's 1984 novel Mygale, first published in French and then in English under the title Tarantula.
• Almodóvar was inspired by Georges Franju's Eyes Without a Face and the thriller films of Fritz Lang when writing the screenplay.
• Principal photography began 23 August 2010 and ended almost four months later, with locations including Santiago de Compostela, Madrid, and a country house outside Toledo.