Euphoria, Billie Eilish, and more on-screen beauty moments to watch in 2020

At the end of last year, we took a look back at some of the best and most extreme beauty looks in films of 2019, from Joker’s slick back green hair and demonic make-up, through to Timothée Chalamet’s London fuckboy bowl cut in The King. 

Now, for a new year, and a new us, we’re looking ahead to what’s coming out in 2020, both on the small screen and big. From documentaries about some of our favourite modern beauty icons, to a Goop wellness series, to the epic return of Euphoria (for which we are literally counting down the seconds), here are 12 on-screen beauty moments that you won’t want to miss this year. 

BIRDS OF PREY

Has it always been your fantasy to see Margot Robbie look like… an E-Girl? Well, then this one’s for you! Director Cathy Yan’s new film, Birds Of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn was conceived by Robbie on the set of Suicide Squad,  where she first played comic book character Quinn and where she first decided she wanted to make a female ensemble action film. This film, a Quinn spinoff, sees the famous character trying to put her life back together after breaking up with the Joker, despite having a bounty on her head. In it, Robbie sports a black pencilled heart under one eye, a dark red lip and a pastel pink dye job. It hits cinemas at the end of January. 

RIHANNA

Does what it says on the tin. In other words, this is the ultimate documentary about the pop star turned beauty and fashion mogul. Directed by Peter Berg (who also directed the 2012 action film Battleship which Rihanna starred in) the doc is a feature-length look at the singer’s life, whittled down from a reported 1200 hours of footage taken over a series of years. Although the release date is unconfirmed, the documentary promises to include “personality, humour, philosophies on work, family and love”. We only hope it includes a behind the scenes look at what goes on in Fenty Beauty HQ. 

GLOW UP: BRITAIN’S NEXT MAKE-UP STAR SEASON 2

Glow Up was BBC Three’s reality contest to find Britain’s next make-up artist superstar. The first season saw MAC’s Dominic Skinner and make-up legend Val Garland judge 10 contestants, who are made to live in a house together while they battle it out with beauty challenges. “In the past 10 years, make-up has really become an art form for everyone thanks to Instagram and YouTube,” Skinner told Dazed Beauty when the show first aired. “However, I feel it’s only now that this type of make-up show could be done as really it’s this younger generation who have grown up seeing make-up as an art form who aren’t constrained by society’s view of what make-up is.” Season two will return to BBC Three around April 2020. 

THE GOOP LAB

As we have previously reported, Netflix is gearing up to debut a new series, a partnership with Gwyneth Paltrow’s whacky wellness empire, Goop. In The Goop Lab, the former actress and her co-host Elise Loehnen promise investigations into “psychedelics, energy work and other challenging wellness topics.” Out later this January, the show will feature six 30-minute episodes. It’s already been making headlines, given Goop’s controversial history, including accusations of spreading false health information. A spokesperson for Goop responded: "It's a shame that many of the things Goop discusses are considered controversial, such as female sexual health, when the goal is really to push the culture forward. Many of the experts interviewed on The Goop Lab are doctors and research scientists from leading medical institutions, which people will realise when they actually see the show.”  

THE HOLY MOUNTAIN RE-RELEASE

If you haven’t seen the underground classic that is Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain, then you’re missing out: it’s a wild, weird and spectacular piece of cinema. What could be more niche than a 1973 Mexican experimental film (loosely) about a thief who meets a dwarf that he travels to a city with, where he is mistaken for Jesus and then meets an alchemist who then leads him through a series of odd rituals? Look, it doesn’t really have a plot but, in blending the surreal and psychedelic, naturally The Holy Mountain boasts some pretty memorable – and still scandalous – scenes. There’s the famous bum painting scene, some very creepy clown faces, weird human replica models and a lot of fake blood. It’s a trip.

EUPHORIA SEASON 2

Season one of Euphoria was a veritable feast for the beauty enthusiast’s eyes: think Kat’s sexy gothic palette, Jules’ penchant for a playful, colour accented eye, or Maddy’s tight ponytails and bejewelled looks constructed out of rhinestones. The beauty details in the show created a ripple effect across Instagram, and the show even created their own Euphoria Instagram filters, so we could all get in on the neon yellow lined eyelids. The much anticipated season two of Euphoria will air on HBO later this year, around summertime, with some new cast members promised. Of course, our expectations for the make-up are high. 

SELF MADE: INSPIRED BY THE LIFE OF MADAM C.J. WALKER 

Coming in March 2020 and starring Octavia Spencer alongside Tiffany Haddish, this Netflix show “chronicles the incredible true story of Madam C.J. Walker, who was the first African American self-made millionaire.” The daughter of former slaves, Walker was an entrepreneur who created Afro hair products after suffering damage to her own hair, turning her creations into a hugely successful business. Yet, she had to face many racial barriers to her success in post-War America, where segregation still existed. The dramatised, limited Netflix Originals series looks at the ascent of her business, her personal life (Haddish plays her daughter, and Blair Underwood plays her husband) as well as the struggles she faced to become an early example of an American beauty mogul. 

ROCKS

This British indie film from director Sarah Gavron, who made the film of Zadie Smith’s Brick Lane, and also Suffragette, is about a 15-year-old Nigerian British schoolgirl who is big into make-up and dreams of becoming a make-up artist. When she suddenly has to start looking after her little brother, in the absence of her mother, she swaps make-up tutorials for dodging social workers. Apparently, this one is packed full of British grit, humour, optimism and “multiple makeovers”. It’s out in the UK in April. 

SHRILL SEASON 2

Shrill, which debuted on Hulu in the US in March 2019 and has now deservedly made its way onto the BBC, is a hilarious and landmark comedy about one girl’s experiences of both fatphobia and self-acceptance, based on Lindy West’s book Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman. Starring the holy trinity of Saturday Night Live’s Aidy Bryant, British comedian Lolly Adefope and the incredibly funny rising star Patti Harrison, Shrill has been hailed as both an honest and easy-to-identify-with portrayal of plus-size characters. Season 2 will air in America at the end of January. “I loved it. I think it was a combination of it being a topic that I hadn’t really seen nailed,” Adefope told The Cut, of being on the show. “It was celebrating (fat people) rather than focusing on fat people being miserable or fat people wanting to change.”

THE BILLIE EILISH DOCUMENTARY

As well as the Rihanna documentary, 2020 promises a behind the scenes documentary on Billie Eilish, for Apply TV+, following her rise from cult online musician to global superstar, all by the age of 18. We don’t know much about the film, other than the fact that Apple paid a chill $25 million for it, and that it is directed by R.J. Cutler, who made The September Issue about Vogue and Anna Wintour. Then again, we don’t really care about the specifics – anyone who truly stans will be content with an hour and a half of Billie’s angel face up close, along with footage that may well immortalise her trademark slime green hair. 

JAMES CHARLES INSTANT INFLUENCER

Beauty vlogger James Charles is no stranger to controversy, but perhaps this is part of the reason he is so successful. Successful enough (with 16 million-plus subscribers and counting) to launch his own new series on his own YouTube channel, in which he hunts for the next big beauty influencer, and awards them a $50,000 prize. But who is footing the bill? Well, YouTube has funded the project as part of their YouTube originals drive. The 20-year-old LA-based star will host and produce James Charles Instant Influencer, and promises that the show will be like Project Runway, beauty-style, with six contestants who are already “micro-influencers”. It will air sometime in the spring. 

RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE UK SEASON 2

“Would Ru believe it, in 2020, we’ll have season 2 of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK!” Or so the application form for the second season of our new favourite British drag extravaganza declares. The show first landed on BBC Three in October 2019, so that another series is already in the making seems speedy. Still, we have a strong appetite for more quintessentially British drag lewks, which in season one ranged from Blu Hyndrangea’s statuesque Queen Elizabeth to Baga Chipz’s camped-up take on Kat Slater. Applications for season two are now closed. May the best woman win!