Skincare, 2024.
Directed by Austin Peters.
Starring Elizabeth Banks, Lewis Pullman, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Nathan Fillion, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, John Billingsley, Medalion Rahimi, Georgia Leva, Mike Ferguson, Monroe Cline, Jason Manuel Olazabal, Lauren Mary Kim, Lucy Barrett, Talia Asseraf, Jesse Saler, and Scott Manuel Johnson.
SYNOPSIS:
Famed aesthetician Hope Goldman’s skincare business faces sabotage when rival Angel Vergara opens a boutique across the street. Aided by friend Jordan, Hope seeks to uncover who’s trying to ruin her reputation.
In the cutthroat world of beautification, co-writer/director Austin Peters’ Skincare (written alongside Sam Freilich and Deering Regan) is a battle of the sexes wrapped up in a mystery. Unfortunately, the mystery aspect is fairly predictable, whereas the material that sees Hope Goldman (Elizabeth Banks) fighting her way into a male-dominated and predatory media space to showcase her new product contains blunt messaging. Her famed reputation is tarnished through illegal technological hacking, which stops her business, with all types of associates dropping out of her sphere. It’s, disappointingly, all too easy to turn society against a successful woman.
That’s the issue that persists through these long-winded 96 minutes: it’s unmistakably obvious what the filmmakers are trying to say, and it is even more clear who the real culprit is, no matter how much misdirection the film applies in the form of a new rival beauty parlor next door run by Angel Vergara (Luis Gerardo Méndez.) Meanwhile, a news anchor (Nathan Fillion) offers Hope a guaranteed slot for televised promotion in exchange for sexual favors. Someone with a grudge has also hacked into her personal email account and mass emailed a bizarre confessional rambling about feeling unfulfilled in life and horny for all kinds of men (this particular attack is taken a step further with a website listing personal addresses and requesting disturbing fantasies.)
Fortunately, there are still a few individuals in Hope’s corner, such as a longtime assistant (Michaela Jaé Rodriguez) and life coach (Lewis Pullman), all doing everything they can to create new branding (for a film about reputation, it sure doesn’t seem to understand social media) and ensure that she is safe. There is some pointed, familiar commentary on gun control, leaving Hope with a different weapon to defend herself from creeps who show up looking for sex. Law enforcement is also useless, not taking the matter seriously enough. It’s also tricky to tell if some of this is intended to be darkly funny. For the most part, everything here simply feels boring and drags on, not digging deep enough into any of the topics it touches.
Anyway, Hope is unwaveringly convinced that the hacker is Angel because he is the new guy in Hollywood, her sudden rival, and a vain personality that refuses to let her accept that she might have enemies out there. There is also the feeling that the filmmakers are trying to say something about the line between skincare and self-care, but whatever that point might be is lost, especially as the film increasingly lets the investigative thread take over the narrative.
Even when Skincare is arriving at its climactic reveals, there isn’t much to do but nod, having expected it while having sat there getting bludgeoned with the message. Naturally, this is made more frustrating by having a worthwhile ensemble assembled with these familiar faces doing respectable work. However, they can’t save this from falling apart into something tedious that feels as long as receiving an actual makeover.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
