Skincare
Sunshine noir equal parts sensationalistic, sleazy, slick and soapy.
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The thriller “Skincare” (in theaters beginning Friday, Aug. 16) feels like an entire season of Ryan Murphy’s “American Crime Story” series crammed into one hour and a half movie. That is to say it’s a lot. It’s a fictional story inspired by true events … it’s also campy, cheesy and a whole helluva lot of fun. I have the sneaking suspicion women and gay men will go gaga over it.
Elizabeth Banks stars as famed Hollywood facialist Hope Goldman. The aesthetician is hitting a career peak. She’s about to launch her own skincare line and has filmed a guest stint on a morning show hosted by her friend Brett Wright (Banks’ “Slither” co-star Nathan Fillion). Then everything comes crashing down.
Rival facialist Angel (Mexican superstar Luis Gerardo Méndez) has moved in across the street from Hope’s studio. He’s stealing Hope’s customers including starlet Jessica (Ella Balinska, one of the titular characters from Banks’ 2019 “Charlie’s Angels” reboot) and his morning show spot preempted her own … they can’t have two aestheticians on back-to-back. Worse still, Hope’s e-mail gets hacked and the hacker paints her as personally and professionally desperate in a correspondence to her entire client list. Additionally, Hope’s car’s tires get slashed.
Is Angel behind these attacks? Hope certainly has her suspicions. She enlists the services of Jordan (Lewis Pullman), boy toy to loyal customer Colleen (Wendie Malick), and neighboring auto mechanic Armen (Erik Palladino) to aid in solving her Angel problem. Meanwhile, Hope’s assistant Marine (Michaela Jaé Rodriguez) has concerns over how these ambushes are effecting the business and their landlord Jeff (John Billingsley) is demanding rent from an overextended Hope.
“Skincare” is the feature debut of music video director Austin Peters, who co-wrote alongside Sam Freilich and Deering Regan. It’s an assured offering that’s equal parts sensationalistic, sleazy, slick and soapy. Banks makes Hope sympathetic despite doing unsympathetic things. Pullman, an actor whose work I’ve admired in the underrated “Bad Times at the El Royale” and as Bob in “Top Gun: Maverick,” is a live wire here. There’s an unpredictability to Jordan through writing and performance that makes the character inherently entertaining and watchable.
“Skincare” is a sunshine noir that’s never a bore. It’s a pleasure – albeit a guilty one.