Marina de Van’s direction is unflinching. She avoids the "jump scares" typical of the genre, opting instead for a cold, observational camera style that forces the viewer to sit with the discomfort.
The film’s genius lies in its slow, almost clinical escalation. At a business dinner, Esther excuses herself to the restroom. What follows is the film’s most iconic and excruciating sequence. Under the sterile fluorescent light, she rolls up her trouser leg. With a shard of broken glass, she begins to carve into her scarred thigh. There is no music, no dramatic lighting. Only the wet, granular sound of the glass slicing tissue and Esther’s face—a mask of terrified, ecstatic concentration. She smells her fingers, tastes the blood. In this moment of profound isolation, she is not destroying herself; she is meeting herself. The exterior world of contracts, social niceties, and romantic obligation falls away, replaced by the undeniable, sovereign fact of her own interior. in my skin -2002-
The sound design is particularly effective, emphasizing the wet, rhythmic sounds of Esther’s compulsions. By focusing on the tactile nature of skin—its texture, its resilience, and its fragility—de Van creates a film that is "felt" as much as it is watched. It belongs to the same lineage as David Cronenberg’s early work, where the transformation of the flesh reflects the transformation of the soul. Legacy in New French Extremity Marina de Van’s direction is unflinching
Esther begins to view her skin and limbs as external materials to be studied, tasted, and reshaped. She treats her body like an artist treats clay, seeking a "true" experience that her mundane life cannot provide. At a business dinner, Esther excuses herself to the restroom
Throughout the film, Esther’s body is objectified by others. At a business dinner, her boss strokes her hand possessively. Her boyfriend treats her body as a sexual receptacle without understanding her trauma. Even the doctor who stitches her leg treats the wound as a technical problem, ignoring the psychological earthquake it triggered.