The first full-length feature by acclaimed short filmmaker Esther Rots, Can Go Through Skin is a comprehensive and tender study of a woman’s battle to regain her equilibrium after a brutal and vicious assault leaves her bitter, angry and desperately afraid. Following the terrifying ordeal in her own apartment, Marieke (Rifka Lodeizen) struggles hard to come to terms with her situation. Refusing offers of help from friends, she chooses instead to face her demons head-on, opting to live alone in a cold, dilapidated cottage in Zeeland, deep in the frozen Dutch countryside. Once there, she immediately busies herself with vigorous renovations to the crumbling cottage, whilst all the while carefully plotting her painful revenge. Her conversation limited to internet chatrooms with fellow rape victims, Marieke feels safest in her kitchen cupboard hideaway, avoiding human contact as far as possible. Eventually, the condition of the house starts to improve and Marieke’s strength slowly returns. Closely following Marieke wherever she goes is Lennert Hillege’s attentive camera, which records every move and documents even the tiniest gesture and facial expression. Such astonishingly detailed cinematography allows Lodeizen to bring a unique vulnerability to her surprisingly brave and brutally honest performance. She inhabits the role of the tragic but determined Marieke completely, deftly portraying the character’s desperate desire to feel emotion after her initial reflex response to hide away. As her anger recedes, it slowly gives way to a fragile hope of finding peace, before Rots’ assured direction guides Marieke gently into the open where she can begin to reconnect with her life. Better known at home for her television work and collaborations with Dutch director Eddy Terstal, Lodeizen (previously seen at EIFF in 2008 in Paula Van Der Oest’s charming Amsterdam-set drama Tiramisu) gives a powerhouse performance bristling with turmoil and terror. Her compelling, multi-textured interpretation of the emotionally scarred Marieke imbues every scene in this extraordinary film with an unforgettable grit and genuine tenderness.