The Skin I Live In (2011) review

Mad plastic surgeon (Antonio Banderas) loses his wife after she's horribly disfigured in a car fire and kills herself, so he sets out to 'recreate her' ... in any way possible. I love how Pedro can unpack a traditional horror narrative and reinterpret it in his own tawdry, soap-opera style: sure, this is still a bit cluttered and the storyline does bounce around, but once the final revelation comes in, it all makes sense. Almodóvar's never shied away from depictions of rough sex or obsession (Banderas is memorable as a kidnapper in Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down), but this time he really outdoes himself: the 'woman' the doctor crafts is, in all actually, a rebuilt man. The Kinsey scale explodes with confusion.