so Elizabeth Bank stars as hope a top tier Hollywood esthetician who's living the dream she's the go-to skincare Guru for all the stars and she's on the brink of launching her own line of beauty products life is perfect but then this new guy Angel sets up shop right across the street from her oh and he's also in the skincare game well suddenly her Life Starts spiraling her email gets hacked her reputation's under Fire and she's convinced Angels behind it all the paranoia ramps up and so do her drastic attempts to save face literally and figuratively Elizabeth Banks is fantastic in this darker complex role her character hides her insecurity and self-doubt behind a mask of Elegance and sophistication Banks Nails the part of a narcissistic desperate character who's far from likable yet somehow you root for her when her life starts to plummet it's a tricky balance but Banks who also directed cocaine bear pulls this off plus The Supporting Cast all bring solid performances to the table here's the deal skincare tries to be everything at once an LA satire psychological Thriller a critique of greed and ambition I don't know if it's a dark comedy a thriller or the horrors of Aging andan the screenplay can't decide if it wants to make you laugh cringe or think deeply about the sketchy links people go to for Success the film touches on the Cutthroat beauty industry the obsession with youth and relevance there's also this underlying commentary about how as a woman in La every interaction with a man comes with strings attached just feels like a bunch of ideas thrown together without fully committing to any of them now if it had picked a lane or hell even two skincare could have been something special but hey it kept me engaged from start to finish even if the big reveal didn't really blow my mind and damn do I appreciate how it captures The self-promotion Craze where everyone's hustling for themselves and relationships are purely transactional essentially self-serving motives wrapped in a fake generosity