Elizabeth Banks' skincare transforms a contract killing plot into an LA noir

The idea for the crime thriller Skincare was born out of a crime story as unbelievable as fiction: a Los Angeles-based beauty therapist to the stars was accused of plotting the murder of a rival skincare expert. Director and co-writer Austin Peters, however, set out to create neither a work of journalism nor a documentary. Instead, he thought it was the perfect starting point for a Southern California gothic story.

“It's inspired by a lot of films and books in this sunshine noir world of Los Angeles,” says Peters, who co-wrote the film with Sam Freilich and Deering Regan. “We never intended to tell the true story – that was never our intention. What appealed to us about the story was that it sounded like a James M. Cain-style noir. It felt new and true to the Los Angeles I know, the world I know.”

Although Skincare is Peters' debut film, he co-starred with lead actress Elizabeth Banks. She plays Hope Goldman, whose life is turned upside down when a hipper skincare expert named Angel (Luis Gerardo Méndez) opens a clinic across the street and begins attracting celebrity clients. The role of Hope is complex, mixing moments of humor, angst and ambition as she deals with increasingly shady characters from the LA underworld while her business takes a hit. Given Banks' experience in front of and behind the camera, Peters says she dove headfirst into the project.

“She is an ideal partner and was incredibly supportive of me, the film and my vision, while contributing so much to it,” he says. “She brought this character to life and was always there to support me with any questions I might have. It was an ongoing collaboration and in our rehearsals beforehand, which we had very little time for, but also on the day itself, I couldn't have asked for a better partner as a director. As a director, she just gave it her all and worked with me every single day. We shot for 18 days and she worked every day from morning to night.”

Peters' background in music videos – he worked with artists such as Diplo, Haim and Orville Peck – inspired his dynamic directing style, which perfectly matches Banks' dynamic performance. Pulsating music plays a major role in many of the film's key scenes, from the opening, which juxtaposes Hope's glamorous world with a fiery Queens of the Stone Age song, to a surreal, coke-fueled dance to Katy Perry's “Teenage Dream.”

“The role of music in the film becomes apparent early on,” he says. “One of the first things that happens is that I start listening to it and thinking about what it will sound like, what the sound world will look like.”

The visual aesthetic of Skincare was largely dictated by the time period. Although 2013 wasn't that long ago, Peters made an effort to work with production designer Liz Toonkel to ensure that the differences in style and trends were noticeable without it coming across as cartoonish.

“Elizabeth is dressed in an old-fashioned way,” he says. “She's following a trend that's long gone. This character is very concerned about how she presents herself to the world, and we decided that the way she dresses would tell a big part of her story. It started with us making a wardrobe and digging out loads of Architectural Digests from that era. We looked at what was in style then, and it's kind of shocking because it's new, but it feels so out of style compared to what's in style now.”

This stylistic difference also helped Peters and his cinematographer Christopher Ripley develop a unique visual language for the camera.

“It's challenging to make a film with a cast of characters whose aesthetics I don't share,” says Peters. “It's not something that immediately strikes me as a visually appealing world, as some worlds do. So we spent a long time talking about: 'How do we shoot in these spaces that don't necessarily match our aesthetic or sensibility, but still make it feel like this film? So that it communicates to the audience what kind of film it is?'”

According to Peters, Skincare is the kind of film that meditates on “the image of success and how far you're willing to go to save your own skin and your outward appearance.” While these are universal themes, the colorful characters that populate Hope's world are uniquely LA

“This is a city where people come from all over the world, and it's so big and sprawling and diverse,” says Peters. “There are so many different stories stacked on top of each other. At the same time, it's also so isolating. It's the only city where you can be constantly surrounded by people – from all these different walks of life – and feel completely alone. That happens here with a lot of characters, and we tried to show many sides of this world and these characters: The shiny, sunny exterior and the seedy underbelly.”

Watch the Skin Care trailer below.