Equal parts Hitchcock and Valley of the Dolls, Alex Prager’s photography screams with the over-dramatization of a minor character in a soap opera. Her pictures, thickly coated in layer upon layer of striking veneer, stem from the all-too-real world of the climatic and thespian nature of a regional theater group coupled with the bad acting that anybody who grew up in Los Angeles is all too familiar with.

The subjects in her photos, dolled up with porcelain-like make up, messy wigs, fake eyelashes, blank faces, over-the-top body movements, static poses, and vintage store outfits live in this cinematic wonder of wacky ordeals where not-so-bad situations seem like horrifying incidents and you keep waiting for the worst to happen—all because of the outside appearance.

Behind that facade lies more than just a grown-up having their very own set of living, breathing dolls to play with. Instead, she’s turned her work into a commentary on the flashy lights, bright smiles, fake tans, and plastic bodies of Tinsel Town, using the idea of beauty to make her photographs easier to look at. It’s up to the viewer at that point to finish the script for his or her self.