• LIKE on Facebook • FOLLOW on Twitter • FOLLOW on Instagram

• SUBSCRIBE on YouTube • BUY ME A COFFEE on Ko-Fi

Stars: Elizabeth Banks, Lewis Pullman
Director: Austin Peters
Distributor: Universal Pictures

“That’s my client!”

A legend in the Hollywood makeup scene, Hope Goldman (Elizabeth Banks) is on the verge of launching her own range of products, and with a television interview recorded, she’s about to take her career to the next level…or so she thinks. Opening with police sirens from a crime scene where her portrait is evident, the two weeks ago caption makes its happy appearance.

Counting down the days until the product launch, a new skincare/facial unit has opened up opposite where her studio is. After an awkward welcome with her new neighbour and competiton, Angel (Luis Gerardo Mendez), Hope’s life turns upside down. Starting with an extremely vulgar email hack and false web posts, bit-by-bit, she loses it all. From her loyal customers to her credibility; all gone. Hope has lost all hope. Given the timing, she can only assume one thing: “Surely, it’s the new neighbour?”

In an exceptionally engaging fashion, Hope goes out of her way to prove who is behind her recent attacks and embarrassments. Almost terror in reverse. She wants something to happen, even if to scream, “See, it’s him!” Hope almost goes above and beyond to both purposefully and inadvertently have bad things happen. But whilst Hope gets carried away in her aggressive game of cat-and-mouse, there is a legit perpetrator and villain out there.

Skincare tasks itself with the trick of balancing the psychological thriller with comedy. For the most part, Skincare excels in this matter and presents a funny thriller shrouded in mystery. The intrigue generated can really be exciting for the viewer. The great expedition into distress is terrifically led by Elizabeth Banks, and wonderfully aided by MJ Rodriguez as her secretary, Marine, and also life coach Jordan (Lewis Pullman).

As ever with these comedy-thrillers, they intend to thrive with their characters, and Austin Peters’ Skincare is successful in that fashion. Given the Hollywood backdrop, more could have potentially been explored with the locations and sceneries. Much of this film feels, at least, that it most occurs around the vicinity of Hope and Angel’s respective studios. There are instances, especially later on, where the dirt and sleaze of Hollywood are briefly spectacted – gotta love trashy apartments – but not enough for my liking.

As ever with films shrouded with mystique, the third act generally sees the mystery or truth unravel itself. The issue there is that the film is then tasked with maintaining the thrill, interest and excitement once the cat is out of the bag with a good amount of running time to go. In this instance, Skincare finally wears off. A shame given the quality of Skincare beforehand, but this is a common occurrence within these films, unfortunately. Ultimately, this is a film with a terrifically fun and engaging build-up, but somewhat let down by poor conclusions and obvious predictability.