24-year-old Margot's story reflects the growing pressures felt by young women to halt their own aging. How do we stop this constant ‘upgrading’ and ‘upkeeping’ of ourselves? How can our ‘real’ lives ever live up to others' ‘internet’ lives? And who do 'age-defying' injections really serve?

Love In A Bottle is a short thriller that follows 24-year-old Margot as she schedules a consultation with a famed doctor to learn more about the Baby Botox she's seen advertised across her social media accounts. She meets a series of quirky characters, from an influencer who is getting a kickback for her advertising content, to a mother who's pressured to allow her teen daughter to get her first injections, to the passionate Doctor Healy, who believes herself to be a shepherd to the new age of women's healing.

Things get spooky when Margot tries to leave Doctor Healy's office - but instead ends up in an underground beauty factory purgatory. It's in this maze that she faces a horrifying question:

is any of this really her choice? 

This short film explores the larger cosmetic marketing pipeline - from Big Botox, to the doctor’s office, to the influencer, to the consumer - and asks what happens when we demand the impossible from women - to be ageless.

Since 2010, Botox injections have increased in people ages 20 to 29 by around 32 percent. 
Instead of correcting already-formed wrinkles, preventative injections - affectionately named 'Baby Botox' - supposedly stop deep wrinkles from forming to begin with. The science behind this is largely anecdotal and social media is the largest driver of the popularization of Baby Botox.

Roughly 94% of Botox users are women.

SO WHAT?

Today, beauty advertisers fit their scripts to the ‘everyone is beautiful’ movement. While this trend marks some progress, the Botox industry has brilliantly co-opted ‘You Do You’ mantras into their own messaging. Their new delivery system? Influencers & social media.

In my experience editing content for influencers, I’ve noticed they’ve become a huge marketing force behind the Baby Botox trend. They take users into Upper East Side doctor's offices, panning their iPhones to show an endless menu of options: the Baby Botox can eliminate your crow's feet and forehead furrows; it can freeze your upper lip to get rid of your unappealing 'gummy smile'; it can even be injected into your jaw and neck to make your face appear slimmer, sucked in... and serenely expressionless.

These POV injection sessions show how quick and easy getting the Baby Botox is. No longer do women have to wait until their faces have aged so shamefully long that their deep lines are trickier to reverse. More intensive operations like face lifts are no longer necessary, either. You can buy your youth in just 10 minutes (and a few hundred dollars every 3-6 months).

WHAT'S THE HARM?

Many think by being ‘transparent’ on social media, no harm is caused, but the clips from the doctor’s office tell the terrifying truth - our faces are aging and we need to stop it.

There is no denying that these injections make users feel more confident. There is also no purpose in shaming users when they have been told their entire lives that their value lies in their youth, that when their beauty fades, so does their worth - that women over 35 are drags, sloppy, senile, ugly, gross, droopy, dried up, obscene, undesirable, shriveled, total wrecks and most of all:

unf-kable.

It turns out that women's insecurities are quite profitable. Celebrating older women for their experience, poise and confidence? Not so much.

But when do we stop running in the hamster wheel, chasing a standard that is - by design - impossible to attain. Can we get to a place where we collectively declare: Enough is enough. Let women age.

And if so... how?

The predatory targeting of younger women to make them rush to paralyze their faces is, as expected, hotly debated in 2023. Girl-boss mantras like 'you do you,' and 'if you feel good, who cares if it's natural,' discourage questioning as to how these injections are affecting young women, as they compare themselves to increasingly unrealistic beauty standards set by social media and ... let's face it, men.

WHO IS REALLY BENEFITING FROM BABY BOTOX?

As of 2020, Botox is a $1.3 – $2.6 BILLION-DOLLAR industry.

Clearly, women's independence, individuality and self-acceptance are some of the greatest weapons against patriarchy and capitalism.

Ask any woman - student, influencer, mother, surgeon - and they will tell you endless stories of living under the impossible demands laid on them in order to feel worthy. They'll tell you of the shame, the fear and the cost.

The marketing works. We are barreling towards a future that vilifies individuality and diversity in favor of achieving the same perfectly symmetrical, young, sexy, filtered face. Shame is the optimal driver of urgency; it can get anyone to fork over their wallet. It can program all of us to believe we prefer the 'expressionless' look. 

And what exactly is so threatening about a woman with expression?

It's my hope that this film brings awareness to the psychology behind Big Botox and encourages men and women alike to stand up to the shallow, suffocating standards set by those who continue to make billions off of us.

UGH, ANOTHER WOMAN GOING ON ABOUT PATRIARCHY... 

Yes! Hello :^)

A few MALE CEOs are the top dogs profiting the most off of the anti-aging market, like the CEO of Allergan - the maker of Botox.

As well as the CEOs of:

• Dysport - manufactured by Ipsen
• Xeomin - manufactured by Merz
• Jeuveau - manufactured by Evolus 

In my most fearful and frustrated moods, I have turned to film to look for hope. I've reached out to friends to realize they, too, carry the same anxieties.

Thriller and horror genres can externalize and capture some of the most daunting realities of our world.

Let's choose compassion and acceptance over cruelty and rejection.

Maybe that sounds woo-woo. But how else do we evolve than to envision a future that values freedom and individuality over profit and control? 

The Face of Another - 1966

The film and I ask you... when is enough enough?

Supporting this film is one way you can stand up to Big Botox. I don't care if you get injections or not - we're all doing our best to cope with the increasingly crushing standards put on our for-profit youth.

This film asks some of the questions those who hold the strings do not want us to ask. 

Let's get the conversation going.

Thank you sincerely for your support. 

Janna

Our COVID-safe production ensures all cast and crew are vaccinated and tested negative for our 4-day shoot.

@LOVEINABOTTLEFILM