In My Skin

Marina de Van writes, directs and stars in this frank examination of self-mutilation. She plays Esther, a research analyst who has a fall and becomes obsessed with the resultant gash on her leg. De Van's use of an unflinching camera and split screens to show the wounds her character inflicts upon herself is relentlessly assured, but the film is light on psychological insight. Esther's fascination with the fragility of flesh becomes all-consuming and we don't see enough of the measures that she takes to explain her injuries or the impact they have on her colleagues and her anxious lover (Laurent Lucas). It's a courageous film, but it's too narrow in its focus.