‘Stop smiling at me!‘
I saw Smile at the cinema upon its release in 2022, and I was immediately blown away by it. As a horror film veteran, it is rare for something to get under my skin, but Parker Finn’s innovative debut feature stuck with me for weeks after the credits had rolled. It also featured a jump scare that saw my soul leave my body, and that still gives me chills when I think about it. Many have reported that Smile 2 is even better than its predecessor, and while I can’t get on board with that, it is definitely a worthy sequel in a franchise that has the potential to run and run…
Wisely dispensing with the plot of the first movie (Kyle Gallner briefly returns as Joel at the start but only to act as a bridge between the two films), Smile 2 shines its insidious glare on Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) – a famous pop singer who receives the Smile curse from her high school friend and drug dealer Lewis (Lukas Gage). While Scott anchors the film, appearing in pretty much every scene, Rosemarie DeWitt also excels as Skye’s overbearing mother and Dylan Gelula and Peter Jacobson provide able support as our protagonist’s estranged best friend and mysterious stranger, respectively.
If Smile was Finn’s The Evil Dead, Smile 2 is very much his Evil Dead II. He throws everything at the screen here, including camera tilts, brutal long takes, and some gnarly practical effects, and the result is a two-hour thrill ride that deserves much more love in the horror community than it has currently received. For me, Smile is presently the most effective horror franchise out there, and yet it is constantly overshadowed by lesser films. There are moments of visual ingenuity here to match anything in Nosferatu, and much of it is nightmarish in the extreme. That being said, both this film and the source material struggle to stick the landing, although the final scene here is pleasingly nihilistic and cruel.
Smile 2 lives up to the promise shown in the first film and adds an extra layer of menace that suggests that this is a franchise that could run and run. I sincerely hope it does. Give me Smile 6 – Smiling in Space. I’ll be there.
