Smile was released two years ago and gave us a reason to be suspicious of anyone who showed their teeth, what a weird new thing to make a horror movie based from smiling, yes it can be creepy with the right facial expression but not something common to think about. Parker Finn is back and this time he is basically trying to power up on everything we loved about the first movie, almost saying "This is not over!. There was always a supernatural curse in the first movie, this time around we are checking out the ostentatiously attractive world of pop stardom, which is surprisingly effective. They take the creepy smile concept and just put it out there and it is scarier, more disturbing than it was before. Fame being such an isolating and scary thing makes the whole idea of a famous person going through this nightmare all the more interesting.
I don't necessarily consider it better than the first movie so I give it a solid 7.5 out of 10, it's not going to win any awards for originality, but it certainly knows how to keep you uncomfortable and scared. Most of that time is spent building up the tension and creating some really memorable scary moments, and while the movie runs a bit long at over two hours, they’re worth it. The best thing is how it can make something as simple as a smile seem threatening all over again, when we’ve already seen it done before.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29268110/
- Platform: AppleTV+
Rottentomatoes Rating
Its story line develops around Skye Riley, a pop icon who is making a comeback after a terrible car accident that killed her boyfriend and left her both physically and emotionally scarred, I guess is that moment you get so close to death that works like a portal to bring bad things with you?, horror movies stuff. She's been clean for a year dealing with substance abuse issues and is getting ready for a huge comeback tour, she tries to score some pain killers off of her old dealer Lewis, but when she goes to pick up, Lewis kills himself right in front of her with a twisted smile on his face. From there life is a nightmare for Skye as she begins to see people with creepy smiles everywhere she goes and her mind goes to Hell fast, until this point we are clear on the originality I mention above. It's even more complicated than that, she's trying to keep her career going forward, while literally fighting for her life against this supernatural entity that's haunting her.
This setup is interesting for the way it twists celebrity and mental health, kind of Final Destination type where its the same topic but different person. She can’t just drop everything and run away, she has shows to perform and an entire team of people she needs to be there for, to mention her mother and her assistant treat her worse than product than an actual person, this makes her situation more isolating. I think the movie does a pretty good job of showing how the pressures of fame can make it hard to tell what's real and what isn't, and when you're being haunted by a demon who is very good at making you doubt your own sanity.
Naomi Scott absolutely kills it as Skye Riley and I mean that in the best way possible, she gets you to believe she is this huge pop star and still manages to show the vulnerability and terror of someone whose life is going to pieces. It’s probably going to be the one scene where a group of dancers are talked about for a while, and Scott’s performance is absolutely terrifying. Kyle Gallner as Joel comes back from the first movie but its weird how his part is brief but essential to connect the two movies, they probably should have given him a bigger role to really keep both movies tight. Rosemarie DeWitt is a wonderful Skye's mother and does a great job of playing how someone can be caring and yet completely oblivious to their loved ones suffering. It's all the way down to the creepy smiles, which are simple in theory, but actually takes some serious skill to pull off without looking ridiculous, or probably start laughing on set because you are been ridiculous jajaja.
Makes sense that the online rating for this movie is pretty split on this one, been that some people like how it extends the original's ideas, but its true that you could find it more of the same. Jump scares are more frequent this time around, which may annoy some viewers, but they’re done well and actually help tell the story rather than being cheap shot are your fear of dark place and someone who pops up with a creepy smile. The visual effects and gore are also cranked up from the first movie, courtesy of a higher budget and most people seem to like how the film isn't afraid to get really dark and disturbing when it has to, after it is it's main attractive.
I really liked how the movie been a sequel surpass expectations, most people online thought it was going to flop, at least the sites and feeds I follow. It’s surprisingly light on jump scares until around the first 40 minutes or so when you start to relax and then things really start getting crazy, they probably time it well. Psychological horror is treated well and while there’s always this feeling of unease, the movie just keeps building on it, the best horror made me feel physically uncomfortable, and some of the scenes were actually just that.
It’s in the ending where things get really interesting and honestly pretty bold, even similar on this aspect to the first movie at the end is when finally succumbing to the entity while on stage at a massive concert performance, Skye's entire audience is cursed all at once. It's a huge change from how the curse worked in the first movie, where it passed from one to another old school like Final Destination or The Ring, and that opens up some interesting possibilities for a third movie turning this into a trilogy or who knows how many more they will try to milk out. What do you do when hundreds or thousands of people are cursing at you at the same time? I’m always curious to see where they take the story next and it’s a question.
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