It’s rare when a ripped-from-the-headlines adaptation fails to capitalize upon the wilder, weirder aspects of its real-life counterpart. Yet that’s what happens in the case of director Austin Peters’ “Skincare,” which, to be fair, only claims to be a fictionalized version of the true-crime story of a successful celebrity aesthetician who allegedly hired a hitman to take out her competition. What’s there borrows from the real scandal to lightly explore the feminine rage, jealousy and paranoia festering underneath a girl-boss gloss so prevalent in the early 2010s. Through slick aesthetics bolstered by a sensational soundscape, the filmmakers build an entrancing, atmospheric mood piece. But given a few of its omissions, it’s questionable why the storytellers didn’t go in for the kill.

Skin is fragile (it’s the largest organ in the human body), tasked with keeping us healthy and in one piece. It’s no...