Skincare

With the likes of The Neon Demon and, most recently, The Substance, there’s been an emerging trend within horror that’s set its sights on themes of beauty and celebrity. The latest example is director Austin Peters’s Skincare. Playing out more as a thriller than all-out horror á la The Substance, this flick follows successful skincare specialist Hope (Elisabeth Banks) become targeted by an online harassment campaign. What starts as someone sending a salacious email from her account soon escalates to fake advertisements being posted on adult websites. With the suspect believed to be rival business owner Angel (Luis Gerardo Méndez), Hope recruits friend Jordan (Lewis Pullman) to uncover whoever’s responsible.

Said to be inspired by a true story, the concept of being targeted in such a way is frightening because of how believable it is. Although there’s no spine-splitting body horror to be found here, the constant unwelcome attention that Hope receives from men is unsettling in its own way. Unsolicited text messages and creepy calls are bad enough, but the danger becomes palpable when her car tyres are slashed, and a stranger arrives at her place of work to aggressively demand Hope’s presence. As the situation spirals out of control, it’s never clear which of the men she encounters want to help her and which are trying to take advantage of her.

There’s also a comedic element to proceedings as the movie pokes fun at the sleazy and manufactured LA scene where the only thing as important as beauty and celebrity is putting on a fake smile to get through the day. Banks does a solid job in the starring role, however, the script isn’t quite able to strike a balance between comedy and thriller. Moments that are supposed to be intense, such as the stranger who confronts Hope at work, come across as more melodramatic than threatening due to an over-the-top soundtrack and scenery-chewing performances.

Moreover, as a whodunnit thriller, Skincare isn’t all that compelling either. While the narrative is set up around uncovering the culprit behind the harassment, it’s fairly obvious who that is, and the various red herrings don’t do a great job of covering the tracks.

Led by a solid performance from Banks, Skincare is another interesting take on an emerging horror subgenre, even if it doesn’t quite manage to find its equilibrium between thriller and comedy.

Andrew Murray

Skincare is released digitally on demand on 11^th November 2024.

Watch the trailer for Skincare here: