A celebrity facialist in Hollywood becomes convinced that her rival is out to sabotage her business and destroy her life. A film by Austin Peters, starring Elizabeth Banks, Lewis Pullman, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Luis Gerrado Méndez, and Nathan Fillion.

Hope Goldman (Elizabeth Banks) has been working in the facial treatment industry for over 20 years, ever since her divorce. She’s become a celebrity facialist, with features in numerous magazines and beauty websites. Hope has a loyal clientele of celebrities and socialites who regularly book appointments for her renowned facial treatments at her studio in Hollywood.

Hope is invited to appear on the popular TV program The Brett and Kylie Show to give an interview and announce the launch of her very own skincare line. The products will be hitting stores everywhere in the coming weeks. The hosts, Kylie (Julie Chang) and Hope’s longtime friend Brett (Nathan Fillion), seem genuinely excited about her new skincare venture during the interview. Hope shares that all her skincare formulas are manufactured in Italy and that the line is currently available exclusively at her studio, HGS (Hope Goldman Skincare).

The next day, Hope notices a new shop opening across from hers and spots neon signs that typically aren’t allowed in the area. Curious, she tells her assistant Marine (Michaela Jaé Rodriguez), that she’s going to check it out, even though Marine reminds her that she has an appointment with her regular client Colleen, at noon. Hope brushes off Marine’s concern, insisting that Colleen is always late.

When Hope steps into the new shop, she discovers it’s a skincare boutique called “Shimmer by Angel,” according to a brochure she finds. She then meets Angel Vergara (Luis Gerardo Méndez), who initially thinks she’s a customer and informs her that his shop isn’t open yet. Hope introduces herself as his neighbor from Hope Goldman Skincare and mentions that she wants to welcome him with a bag of her products. Just as she’s about to leave, Angel points out that she’s parked in a spot reserved for his clients and asks her to park elsewhere next time.

Infuriated, Hope visits Jeff (John Billingsley) in his office to complain about allowing another facialist to rent a space across from hers, making her direct competition. The film reveals that Hope is struggling financially after putting all her money into her skincare line, which hasn’t gone as planned since her investor has disappeared. As a result, she can’t pay rent to Jeff. Overwhelmed with emotion, Hope asks Jeff to kick Angel out.

Later, Hope returns to her shop and meets her client Colleen (Wendie Malick), who introduces her to a young friend named Jordan. That evening, while reading an article about Angel Vergara in a café, she runs into one of her celebrity clients, Jessica (Ella Balinska).

Hope is thrilled to see Jessica and asks when she’ll come by for a visit. Jessica explains that she’s been busy and just got back from filming in Azerbaijan. When Hope mentions that she’s launching her own skincare products, Jessica mistakenly thinks the new boutique that just opened belongs to Hope. However, Jessica promises that she’ll come by for a facial treatment very soon.

After Jessica leaves, Hope bumps into Jordan, and the two decide to grab a drink at a local bar. During their conversation, Jordan confesses that he has been inspired by Hope’s success since the day he worked as a photographer’s assistant on a photoshoot called The Seven Faces of Wellness, where Hope was one of the featured faces. He then shares that he’s now a life coach and hands Hope his business card, mentioning that he may be able to provide her with some assistance.

Later that evening, Hope receives a strange video clip on her phone showing footage of her walking around inside her shop. The clip appears to have been recorded from across her studio. This unsettling video is followed by an anonymous phone call with no caller ID. The mysterious caller remains silent, and all Hope can hear is the sound of heavy breathing on the other end of the line.

The next morning, Hope gets a call from Colleen asking if she is okay. Colleen mentions an email that Hope sent, which describes how lonely and horny she feels. Hope quickly opens the mail app on her phone and is shocked to discover that the email was sent to all her clients and friends, asking for help and admitting that she is deeply in debt and desperately needs someone to have sex with her. Hope becomes extremely frustrated upon realizing that her email was somehow hacked, leading to her clients calling to cancel their appointments. She instructs her assistant Marline to email everyone on their mailing list to explain the situation, and to call each client one by one.

On top of everything, Hope and Marine are stunned to find out that The Brett and Kylie Show is airing Angel Vergara’s interview instead of hers, which was supposed to air today. Shimmer by Angel has quickly become the hottest salon in Hollywood, fully booked for the next two months. Hope can’t shake the feeling that the timing is too perfect to be a coincidence. Unfortunately, she has no proof that Angel is trying to sabotage her business.

Directed by American filmmaker Austin Peters, best known for his work in music videos and documentaries, this is his directorial feature film debut, based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Sam Freilich and Deering Regan, drawing some inspiration from the case of Dawn DaLuise.

The Dawn DaLuise case revolves around a high-profile incident involving allegations of a murder-for-hire plot. DaLuise, a prominent esthetician in West Hollywood, was arrested in March 2014 after being accused of soliciting a hit on her business competitor, Gabriel Suarez. The accusations stemmed from a rivalry that escalated into a series of harassing incidents, including false Craigslist ads and other forms of stalking.

Skincare is a crime thriller that follows a celebrity facialist who becomes convinced that her rival is deliberately sabotaging her reputation through a series of malicious schemes to destroy her business.

While Elizabeth Banks delivers an impressive performance in her role, her character seems a bit too naive to be believable. For example, in a scene where she finds her car’s tires slashed, it’s clear that she has parked in Shimmer’s customer spot. But instead of confronting Angel about it, she just assumes it could have been anyone else. Jeff keeps popping up, asking for the rent she owes him. You’d think she’d at least mention the tire incident to him since it happened right on his property, but she never does. (And there is a security camera footage, but it’s revealed much later in the film.)

I’m not sure if the film is intended to be a stylish crime thriller, because it’s not noir enough and not violently visceral enough. Or is it trying to be a satire of cutthroat business? If so, it also isn’t dark or funny enough. There are several characters who feel underdeveloped, and the twist isn’t entirely unexected. It’s like bad decisions and bad luck just colliding together.

The film also reveals the antagonist too soon (at around the 1 hour mark) and never shows how this person manages to hack into Hope’s email account in the first place. This is left ambiguous until almost the very end, which is just confusing, as Hope never once suspects someone close to her might be behind it all.

Skincare was theatrically released in the United States on 16 August 2024.