What’s It About
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.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Skincare is bad and good at the same time. The film tries to blend various genres and tones. But no, unfortunately, that doesn’t have much impact because of how they water the story and characters down. It is about Hope Goldman, an “Aesthetician To The Stars” (Elizabeth Banks, an amazing actress) whose career is declining. The movie also explores her character as she faces financial hardship and a new beauty expert in her field. Elizabeth Banks gives a powerful performance, making Hope strong, weak, and somewhat sadistic all at once. On the other hand, Banks does a good job with that part, but Hope’s character is horribly underdeveloped. They made her character very contradictory, making it hard to feel completely sorry for her. On the one hand, she is plagued by harassment and intimidation from men, but on the other hand, she is just as toxic, acting like a very arrogant, selfish woman. And that inconsistency makes Hope a bit enigmatic, and therefore, it’s hard for the reader to put themselves in her shoes. It attempts to combine satire and dark comedy with elements of a thriller. It does not, however, convey a clear, strong message. And as the story continues, it’s apparent that it’s going to end in a total mess. But the release is non-violent, and it is very plain and boring. Despite the potential for intelligent commentary on capitalism and competition in the skincare industry, the movie must effectively convey its underlying message, leaving the audience wanting more depth and clarity. Skincare is all about form and appearance, and the committed performance of Elizabeth Banks carries the movie. It is so beautiful to look at, and Banks performs excellently, but it just doesn’t tell a very interesting or satisfying story. The film touches on various themes and issues but needs to cohesively address them, leaving the audience with a feeling of unfulfilled potential. All in all, “Skincare” is a rather dull and unsurprising story of competition and paranoia that does not produce a very moving or powerful film experience. It starts with a good idea and a good lead-in, but then it completely screws up the main character and seems to have no idea what it wants to be about, so by the end of the movie, it just falls flat.
OUR RATING – A WRINKLY 5
MEDIA
- Genre – Drama
- Street date
- Digital – September 3, 2024
- DVD – November 19, 2024
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2.35:1
- Sound – English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Audio
- Subtitles – English SDH, French
Extras
- Austin Peters Commentary
- Behind the Scenes of Skincare