Ready for a trauma dump? Because unfortunately, it’s necessary for me to properly explain why I did not like Parker Finn’s Smile very much.
One week before Smile dropped into theaters in September of 2022, my best friend killed themself (it’s okay, I’ve had lots of therapy and have made peace with it), and, in that week, I found myself unable to really feel much of anything whenever I thought about it. While I was given the option to skip the press screening for Smile since it was so soon after such a traumatic moment for me, and especially with it being a film about a supernatural suicide chain, one might thing I would want to avoid it like the plague. However, in my numbness, I found myself wanting to feel anything, including something bad that might come from a movie about suicide, and so I went … and I found myself particularly un-triggered by the whole ordeal. There was almost an element of feeling cheated by the film, one that was receiving strong reviews from both critics and audiences, and I found the film to be far more concerned with petty jump scares and unfocused lore resulting in everything else not really having an edge to it. I always appreciate a horror film that’s unafraid of an unhappy ending, but I found myself feeling not feelings of resurfacing trauma, but those of real disappointment.
Okay, I promise that’s the last you’ll hear of that.
Naomi Scott stars in Paramount Pictures Presents A Temple Hill Production A Parker Finn Film SMILE 2. © 2024 Paramount Pictures.
The once-Paramount+ original film was given a chance to release in theaters, became successful with both critics and audiences, and grossed over $217 million at the global box office, and, naturally, a sequel was inevitable. The original film’s writer/director Parker Finn (Laura Hasn’t Slept) is back at the helm, and with Paramount more confident in his abilities as a large-scale filmmaker, and he did the one thing he could do to win me back and make me interested in the idea of a sequel to a film I didn’t care for: made it about a fierce pop diva.
Kyle Gallner in Paramount Pictures Presents A Temple Hill Production A Parker Finn Film SMILE 2. © 2024 Paramount Pictures.
Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is a world-renowned, mega-famous pop star returning to the spotlight after a car crash that killed her boyfriend and landed her in rehab for a year, kicking off a world tour at Madison Square Garden. When she briefly relapses looking for pain medicine due to her injuries suffered in the crash, she visits her former drug dealer Lewis (Lukas Gage), who is in the throes of intense paranoia and delusion. When he suffers a psychotic break in front of Skye, he commits suicide gruesomely in front of her, but not before smiling menacingly at her. While attempting to forget about the violent incident, Skye soon finds herself stalked by the specters of smiling figures, and her career that she has worked so hard to recover begins to spiral as she is relentlessly stalked and tormented by a smiling demon that will only rest when she is the next one to be possessed and forced to commit suicide.
I liked Smile 2 quite a bit more than I did the original film. The idea of the central horror of this film serving as a parallel for a level of inescapable fame that leaves no room for humanity to be found fits this franchise so much better than that of an everyday person simply finding themselves at the mercy of a brutal, inescapable demonic force. There is an extra layer of isolation that’s introduced into the film when you’re shown that what should be Skye’s immediate support group is only concerned with the recovery of Skye’s career as a pop star, and not that of her general well-being. Skye is cut off from the real world even before a demonic entity is ever introduced, and with her recovery from addiction already being compromised from her brief relapse, her mental state is not at the level one should be at before undertaking a world tour. The demon is just the icing on the cake. There are levels to the horror here, and while I still cannot bring myself to find the smiling entities scary, I did feel a larger level of hopelessness at play in this installment, much more than with the previous one. Without anyone to turn to when you’re at your “best,” getting to your “worst” brings a level of isolation that creates a very palpable and bleak atmosphere to the whole thing that I really appreciated.
This is all helped by a genuinely engaging and highly entertaining performance from Naomi Scott (Power Rangers; Charlie’s Angels), who sells the idea of Skye Riley with a glossy facade that genuinely made me want to go to one of her concerts. The inclusion of catchy, if somewhat empty, original pop music for the star, co-written by real pop star Tate McRae, among other industry veterans, sells a level of realism that gives Skye Riley a tangibility. She’s a Dua Lipa, a Tate McRae, a Sabrina Carpenter, etc., and Scott’s performance makes me buy it completely. “Blood on White Satin” is going directly onto my pop playlist, and I want the yellow Skye Riley T-shirt in my wardrobe pronto.
Rosemarie DeWitt, left, and Raúl Castillo in Paramount Pictures Presents A Temple Hill Production A Parker Finn Film SMILE 2. © 2024 Paramount Pictures.
Also greatly improved from the first film is Parker Finn’s assuredness as director. While the first film had many unique elements that I respected, they’re fleshed out much more confidently here. There is a definite unease with his visual style, paired well with the work of cinematographer Charlie Sarroff (Night Swim; Relic), that always makes something, even in the film’s calmer moments (the few there are), that just feels … off. Whether it be from the film’s strangely liminal lighting or its propensity for off-kilter, occasionally fully-inverted angles, Smile 2’s visual style is head-and-shoulders above the first film’s in nearly every way, and that’s apparent nearly immediately in the film’s impressive extended opening sequence. Is it “Should remake Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession” good? I wouldn’t go that far just yet, but it’s imbued with a great balance of dread and fun that makes the film a lively watch.
The two big issues with Smile 2, however, work hand-in-hand with each other. The film, despite all its improvements, still isn’t particularly scary. I know there is an ingrained creepiness to the film’s titular smiles, but there’s no real tension in the film’s first two acts because we know that the entity is not going to legitimately harm Skye before the film’s (very very fun) final act, and thus, these sequences only serve as haunted house-level scares that don’t do a particularly effective job scaring you outside of the occasional jump scare. The far more interesting element of Smile 2 is how the demon infiltrates Skye’s psyche which begins to affect her career.
Dylan Gelula, left, and Naomi Scott star in Paramount Pictures Presents A Temple Hill Production A Parker Finn Film SMILE 2. © 2024 Paramount Pictures.
At 127 minutes long, Smile 2 is a long horror film, and one that has no genuine reason to be as long as it is. So much of the film is filled with padded scare fodder that doesn’t inspire much and becomes repetitive rather quickly. Luckily, by the time the film’s finale comes around, it pays itself back with a very satisfying, surprisingly dark, and joyfully macabre payoff. However, in the time between its effective opening and effective finale, there’s a solid 20-30 minutes that could’ve easily been shaved off for a more efficient, and more scary film.
Naomi Scott stars in Paramount Pictures Presents A Temple Hill Production A Parker Finn Film SMILE 2. © 2024 Paramount Pictures.
Despite these qualms, I still had a good time with Smile 2, and that comes as a nice surprise following my disappointment with the first film. The film manages to feel more bleak with a heightened element of social isolation, but also far more fun with an incredibly compelling lead and her team of exaggerated sycophants and momager (played by a very game Rosemarie DeWitt (La La Land; Margaret)) only concerned with getting her career back on track. It’s gorier, wilder, and bigger all around, which does unfortunately lead to some serious bloat that makes the already muted scares of the film feel even more rote as it repeats itself with similar sequences ad infinitum. Still, Finn’s direction is appropriately unnerving and he’s really putting that big studio budget to work here, which is something I want to see when given bigger opportunities and bigger budgets. Once he masters the element of cutting unnecessary filler in his films, in turn making the scares more efficient, thus making them scarier, we might be seriously cooking with gas. For now, I’ll absolutely accept a fun, vastly improved time at the movies. That’s all I really asked for. #StanSkyeRiley
Final Score: 3 out of 5.
For more information, head to the official Paramount Pictures Smile 2 website.
In theaters October 18th, 2024.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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