In My Skin is the 2002 debut feature film from French director Marina De Van (Don’t Look Back, Hop – o’-My Thumb and Dark Touch). It’s considered to be one of the New French Extremity movies, a group of French horror movies made at the turn of the century that are perceived to be extreme or transgressive. In My Skin stars director Marina De Van (See The Sea, Sitcom and La Clef) in the role of our protagonist, Esther, alongside Laurent Lucas (Raw, Alleluia and With A Friend Like Harry), Léa Drucker (Close, Custody and Last Summer), and Thibault de Montalembert (Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, All Quiet on the Western Front and The King). 

The story follows Esther (De van), a young woman, who whilst at a party with colleagues takes a walk in the garden, she catches her leg on some industrial supplies, and it’s not until she is back in the house that she notices the injury. She hasn’t felt anything despite the fact that she has a disfiguring injury to her leg. The doctor who treats her makes a joke about whether or not it is her leg when she tells him that she didn’t feel the injury. The following day, Esther’s boyfriend, Vincent (Lucas) becomes concerned when he sees her injuries for the first time and nips her arm to see if she feels it, which she does. This is, however, just the beginning, as Esther becomes more and more obsessed with her injuries, achieving some sort of perverse pleasure from the further mutilation of her body. 

In My Skin is a beautiful, grotesque and disturbing tale of body horror that rivals Inside, Raw and Martyrs in the gruesome stakes. De Van’s movie is a remarkable piece of cinema and a fascinating study of irrational human behaviour. The sudden change in Esther’s behaviour after the incident in the garden where she becomes not only obsessed with causing herself pain, but she seems to have developed some sort of deeper love for her own body that leads to her further mutilation and eventually a taste for her own flesh. It’s as if she craves the consumption of her own body through her growing love of it. It’s an interesting premise and one that leaves the viewer with even more questions about self-mutilation. In some ways, it reminds me of Crash, the Ballard novel and subsequent David Cronenberg movie based on it. Her lust for her own body matches those desires Ballard, Vaughan, and the others have for their broken and scarred bodies, however, it is probably Raw and Trouble Every Day that feel like the film’s closest relatives.

The new Blu-ray from Severin is a joy to behold, featuring a print of the movie scanned in 4k from the original camera negatives, and over 7 hours of bonus materials including an interview with director, Marina De Van, as well as an audio commentary by her and another by Justin Smith, as well as four of Marina De Van’s short films, two student films and two others, there is also an introduction to the film by acclaimed journalist Kier-La Janisse and even more featurettes looking at female cannibalism in cinema, and In My Skin in particular as well as a video essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.

Overall, this is an excellent package for a very good movie, albeit one that can be a difficult watch for people of a nervous disposition. The scenes of Esther mutilating herself are so intelligently shot, giving the whole thing an almost sensuous feeling. It’s gruesome and disturbing but somehow manages to show the beauty she draws from her self-mutilation and cannibalism. If you’re a fan of body horror cinema, there is a lot for you here, it’s every bit as good as more well-known titles by the likes of David Cronenberg, Claire Denis and Julia Ducoumau. Highly recommended viewing for anyone with a strong constitution, or a love of bleak, depressing horror.