‘Vial’: A Film on Beauty Standards, Patriarchy, and Capitalism
You can watch the short film on YouTube now.
Stills by Kristen Jan Wong
When Caroline Iaffaldano wrote and directed her short film Vial, she didn’t have to look far and wide to confront the themes of beauty standards, the male gaze, and capitalism. In fact, each concept has hit home on several occasions for Iaffaldano, as well as most women. While these issues are seldom a fantasy for women, Iaffaldano put a modern twist on a classic fairytale about a model in an endless pursuit of eternal youth.
We know immortality may be impossible for any human (unless you’re Beyonce or Rihanna). Still, the idea of eternal youth stems from the patriarchal standards of constant beauty preservation to essentially feel ‘good enough’ for ourselves and others.
“At its core, the film explores the relentless pressure placed on women to defy aging and the ways beauty standards intersect with patriarchal power structures,” Iaffaldano says. “I wanted to examine how the wellness industry—under the guise of self-care—often exploits insecurity, repackaging unrealistic beauty ideals as health. Vial shines a light on the systemic ways patriarchy breeds self-doubt, keeping women focused on external validation rather than cultivating an inherent sense of self-worth.”
Stills by Kristen Jan Wong
When Iaffaldano was 16, she worked at an alt-health juice shop. The business prides itself on the promise to heal everything physically, mentally, and emotionally—from chronic illness to heartbreak. Iaffaldano made elaborate concoctions and remained in the wellness industry for many years after that. It didn’t take long for her to become known as an ‘alchemist.’ Because of commodified marketing, Iaffaldano says much of women’s wellness has turned into a currency with misogynistic undertones.
Being based in Los Angeles today, Iaffaldano can’t escape this facade system, even if she no longer works in the wellness industry. “I wanted to create a film about the absurdity that ashwagandha is in your $27 smoothie, which is keeping you young forever,” she says. “The patriarchy might take form in a sparkly plant-based tincture if you’re not careful.”
Vial takes viewers on a surreal, timeless, and fashion-filled journey through flowers, midcentury modern and futuristic sceneries, and studio sets. Kayla Hoff, the cinematographer behind the film, made the film feel voyeuristic—like you’re watching from an outside perspective that somehow feels like you’re also looking inward.
Stills by Kristen Jan Wong
Hoff brought 1960s Technicolor back, which was inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up and Roger Vadim’s Barbarella. Iaffaldano says, “Our goal was to craft a surreal world that felt removed from time, using cinematography that embraced rich colors, playful movement, and bold, unconventional choices.”
In 2017, Iaffaldano studied film and television production at the University of Southern California. She specializes in surrealism and high-style visuals. However, for her, it’s much more than aesthetics. All of her projects contain deeply rooted, relatable messages with grounded performance. She finds inspiration in the everyday: emotions, happenings, and outcomes. “The way life is both beautiful and heartbreaking, truthful yet surreal, funny and unfair, and dark yet endlessly colorful.”
Vial is just the beginning of Iaffaldano’s career to empower women through film and dismantle patriarchy and misogyny. She’s changing the power dynamic not only in the messages of her films but also as a strong woman force in the film industry herself. For Iaffaldano, shifting these oppressive narratives is a lifelong process.
“The journey of being a woman—understanding my place in the world, what it means to be beautiful, and how to exist for myself rather than through the lens of the male gaze—is an ever-evolving practice,” she says. “There are past versions of myself that once felt more tethered to patriarchal programming than I do now, and reaching the end of this project feels like holding a mirror to those versions while also witnessing how far I’ve come.”
You can watch Vial on YouTube now.
