Elizabeth Banks knows nothing can cover up sabotage in latest film “Skincare.”
Banks stars as famed aesthetician Hope Goldman who is losing out on her namesake, quite literally. Hope is about to take her career to the next level by launching her very own skincare line, but her personal and work lives are challenged when rival facialist Angel Vergara (Luis Gerardo Méndez) opens a new skincare boutique directly across from her store.
Hope starts to suspect that someone is trying to sabotage her reputation and business, and together with her new friend Jordan (Lewis Pullman) she embarks on a mission to unravel the mystery of who is trying to destroy her life.
The feature, which is directed by Austin Peters who cowrote the script with Sam Freilich and Deering Regan, also stars Michaela Jaé (MJ) Rodriguez and Nathan Fillion.
Peters made his directorial debut with documentary “Give Me Future” about the free Major Lazer concert in Havana, Cuba that drew half a million fans. The feature debuted at Sundance Film Festival and was one of the first films acquired by Apple as they moved into the entertainment space.
Banks has recently appeared in the “Beanie Baby” origin story feature and directed her third film “Cocaine Bear” after “Pitch Perfect 2″ and her famous Kristen Stewart-led “Charlie’s Angels” reboot.
Yet Banks told Rolling Stone in 2023 that she felt “pigeonholed” helming “Charlie’s Angels” as the film was presented by the “media” as “some feminist manifesto.”
“I just loved the franchise. There was not this gendered agenda from me,” Banks said. “That was very much laid on top of the work, and it was a little bit of a bummer. It felt like it pigeonholed me and the audience for the movie. To lose control of the narrative like that was a real bummer. You realize how the media can frame something regardless of how you’ve framed it.”
Banks added, somewhat ironically given “Skincare,” that at the time, the marketing campaign for “Charlie’s Angels” included a female-driven partnership with hairstyling chain Drybar.
“I remember having a conversation with someone who was like, ‘You guys are going to have a partnership with Drybar’ — which is, like, a hair-blowing thing — and I was like, ‘Alright… but could we have an ad during the baseball playoffs? It’s not only this one thing,’” Banks said. “It was interesting to see how the industry sees things that star women. It was a real lesson for me.”
“Skincare” premieres August 16 in theaters from IFC Films. Check out the trailer below.
