What’s more important? Success? Or projecting the image of success? Whether it’s the high-stakes world of Hollywood or beauty products, it’s a cutthroat business out there, and some people will do anything to keep up appearances. Austin Peters’ directorial debut Skincare is loosely based on one such person, Dawn DaLuise, who was arrested and later acquitted of a murder-for-hire plot against a rival celebrity facialist. But that’s just the starting point for Peters’ entertaining L.A. crime film of escalating stakes, as he explores what it means to be a woman fighting to stay relevant in a business that is eager to chew people up and spit them out.
Elizabeth Banks continues to prove she can do literally anything she puts her mind to. She displays her comedic and dramatic chops in Skincare as the aptly-named Hope Goldman, a self-made woman and facialist to the stars. Hope has a hotly-anticipated line of imported beauty products she’s about to launch, but everything is hanging on by a thread. Banks reunites with her longtime friend and Slither co-star Nathan Fillion who plays slimy talk show host Brett, who is dangling the airing of a crucial TV segment. Hope has her regulars, including Banks’ Charlie’s Angels co-star Ella Balinska, who are keeping her afloat, but it’s not enough to stave off the landlord she owes months of back rent to.
Skincare dials up the pressure on Hope, but it reaches a boil with the arrival of Angel (another Charlie’s Angels alum, Luis Gerardo Méndez), who opens a rival beauty studio directly across from hers. And worse, he immediately begins stealing her thunder, all of her buzz, her TV appearances, and even her clients.
Banks is simply incredible as Hope begins to unravel and push matters past the breaking point. When Hope’s email is hacked and disturbing messages sent to her entire client database, she goes over the edge and begins to blame Angel. Lewis Pullman makes life coaches look even creepier in his role as Jordan, who is willing to go to the extreme to help Hope in her crusade against Angel. Interestingly, Jordan was based on Nicholas Prugo, who was the inspiration for one of the characters in Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring.
Peters smartly plays Skincare with a degree of ambiguity. We see everything through Hope’s perspective but it’s unclear how much we should trust it given her stressed mental state. At the same time, Angel’s actions can be viewed a number of different ways. Competition is natural, and Angel is doing what he can to survive in a brutal industry just as Hope is. As events escalate violently, we see Hope continuing to deal with people looking to take advantage of her as a woman, which fuels her insecurities. We also recognize in Hope someone who is seeing the world pass her by and if she can’t keep up with it, she’ll be left in the dust by those who are younger and hungrier. These feelings are especially true in any field where fame is currency and image is everything.
Peters shot Skincare in L.A. but you’d hardly recognize it. Rather than focusing on the glitz and glam of Hollywood, the film takes a grounded approach that captures this little corner of the city that Hope occupies. She’s part of the big city but also on the outside looking in. It creates almost a claustrophobic atmosphere where everything is closing in on her.
If anything, Skincare could’ve held on to the mystery a bit longer. Peters reveals the truth to us long before Hope has any clue, and it steals some of the tension he had been building. But Banks is great as a woman whose entire world is based on appearances, and that world is being ripped away from her. For Skincare, leaning on Banks is always a good look.
Skincare opens in theaters on August 16th.
