Watch Scarlett Johansson as an alien seductress in Under the Skin trailer

The actress plays the mysterious Laura who preys on men in Scotland

Scarlett Johansson as femme fatale alien Laura in Under the Skin (Under the Skin)

The first trailer for upcoming sci-fi thriller Under the Skin has revealed Scarlett Johansson in her latest role…as an alien femme-fatale using a dead woman’s body for disguise.

The US actress, 29, plays the intriguing part of Laura, who stalks Glasgow's streets looking for men to target, before seducing them, imprisoning them in sticky black goo and stealing their souls. Until one special encounter leads her to end her mission, that is.

In the trailer, Johansson, complete with dark hair and red lipstick, is seen stripping down to black underwear.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" she asks her victims, during  a two-minute clip which features dream-like landscapes, trippy lights and a burning wood.

Questioned about Johansson's erotic role in Under the Skin by the LA Times, Glazer said: "Nudity was very important in the film, but I didn't want to make the film about Scarlett’s nudity."

The movie was shot using directorial subterfuge, as Johansson drove around Glasgow in a van filled with hidden cameras. She persuaded real male strangers to climb into her vehicle before eventually explaining to some of that that they had unknowingly joined a film.

Glazer ( Sexy Beast, Birth) has said that the point of the method was to depict real life as an alien would view it, even though sometimes three hours of shooting would result in no useable scenes.

Under the Skin premiered at the Venice and Telluride Film Festivals, where critics gave it mixed reviews. The Independent's Kaleem Aftab gave the film one star, calling it a "laughably bad alien hitchiker movie".

Under the Skin is released in UK cinemas on 14 March