Skincare: Film Review
I adore Elizabeth Banks and she couldn’t be more perfectly cast as a celebrity aesthetician so it’s a shame Skincare can’t quite match the quality of her performance.
Set in Los Angeles in 2013, this thriller tells the story of Hope Goldman (Banks), a facialist to the stars who is about to launch her own skincare line. After aesthetician Angel Vergara (Luis Gerardo Méndez) opens a rival studio across from hers, Hope becomes increasingly paranoid and convinced that he is sabotaging her. She turns to a life coach named Jordan (Lewis Pullman) to help save her reputation and career, with dire consequences.
I loved the concept of Skincare – which is inspired by a real story – the first half is really solid and it has a great soundtrack. There are some nightmarish scenes where everything seems to go wrong for Hope all at once and I felt viscerally stressed watching her life go up in flames. Director Austin Peters gradually ups the dial on her paranoia and downward spiral, to the point where she makes very irrational and impulsive decisions.
So it’s disappointing that the second half loses the plot and becomes such an unfocused mess. Jordan is given too much screen time and he is incredibly annoying. It doesn’t deliver on the thrills promised by its genre and the ending is underwhelming and anticlimactic.
I was so excited about a thriller based around two skincare specialists. I hoped the film would have something to say about the beauty industry or standards. But Skincare could have been about any rival business owners – the aesthetician angle is relatively meaningless, which was a shame because that’s what hooked me in.
Banks is totally innocent in this. She really commits to the character and convincingly portrays the desperation of a person whose livelihood is on the line after a major fall from grace. While Jordan drove me mad (I guess that’s the point), Pullman threw himself into the slimy character. He has a very brave scene in which he flexes his muscles in a mirror while wearing small undies. That’s the scene everyone will be talking about!
Skincare has a great concept and first half but the execution is wobbly in the second.
Skincare is available on digital release from 11th November