‘Smile 2’ REVIEW: The new and improved (and grislier) recipe
‘Smile 2’ REVIEW: The new and improved (and grislier) recipe
Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) in Smile 2 | Still from Paramount Pictures
Look, I’m not a fan of Parker Finn’s grinning ghouls movie, so I had very little hype over its sequel. The first Smile is the type of horror flick that feels stuck in second gear throughout and borrows too many neat little tidbits from pre-existing entries in the paranormal curse movie canon to stand on its own. Not to mention, using conventions of the horror genre to explore personal trauma is hardly a novel idea nowadays, and Smile neither offers anything new nor is effective enough to elicit a long-lasting reaction. All it successfully does is point out that you should have been watching those pre-existing and arguably better movies that are cut from the same cloth.
So color me surprised when I came out of Smile 2, feeling as if I’d been through one hell of a rollercoaster ride, complete with mind-boggling illusions. Does the sequel expand upon the initial concept? Barely. Is it merely a revamped version of the original? Totally. But is it at least more fun and less dull than its predecessor? My answer for that is a resounding yes.
Would you believe me if I said that a movie filled with graphic depictions of self-harm and suicide is funny? That seems unlikely, but Smile 2 is, indeed, one funny movie.
I assume that this particular statement will raise some eyebrows, and rightfully so. I, too, wonder if my sense of humor has become too morbid nowadays and if I’ve grown desensitized to violence in fictional media, so take that with a grain of salt. And it’s okay if you think this movie might touch a nerve because this one really goes for the extremes.
Lewis Fregoli (Lukas Gage) succumbs to the Smile Curse in Smile 2 | Still from Paramount Pictures
The Smile movies revolve around people who, after unwittingly witnessing a gruesome suicide by a person with a sinister smile, find themselves haunted and cursed to die by a malevolent demon in a similar fate in seven days’ time and have to find a way to survive and end the curse once and for all. In the original, our unfortunate heroine is a therapist (Susie Bacon) with childhood trauma. In the sequel, we primarily follow a popstar (Naomi Scott) recovering from a tragic accident that claimed her boyfriend (Ray Nicholson).
For all these films, writer-director Parker Finn sets up a series of nightmarish scenarios where the cursed suffer increasingly aggressive bouts of terror and vivid hallucinations tied to their inner demons. And as each day goes by, the entity grows stronger as it festers in its victims’ anguish, while also making the line between subjective and objective reality elusive for those afflicted.
This time around, our popstar protagonist, Skye Riley, has even less of a clue about dealing with the curse. She is rehearsing for her comeback tour; she's focused on repairing her image after publicized substance abuse. With her reputation on the line, it makes for a slightly more interesting conflict about a celebrity who has to keep it all together while a demon screws with her mind, and it's much more engaging to watch her spiral out of control while trying to gain back some sense of self-control.
And because the films’ source of suspense is how much this curse terrorizes its victims through physical and psychological means, obviously, the sensible direction is to amp the intensity up a notch. The first Smile has brief flickers of promise in its scares, but like I said, it resorts to tricks that are way too reminiscent of other horror movies, and it feels like Finn is holding his punches back in favor of dramatic attempts at exploring the heroine’s traumatic backstory.
Skye (Naomi Scott) is terrorized by her smiling backup dancers in Smile 2 | Still from Paramount Pictures
In Smile 2, while it unapologetically retains the same formula from the original and still applies those familiar tactics, the sequence of events in this iteration is more ridiculous and excessive so that the horror becomes absurdly amusing. Even I can hardly call these films empathetic for those struggling with personal traumas and mental illness, because of how much these movies relish torturing their protagonists, no matter the film’s attempts at humanizing the character’s psychological struggles. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if people find Smile 2 too mean-spirited and cruel to be enjoyed.
However, to quote Cesar A. Cruz, art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. And speaking as someone who’s also going through the unspeakable, I find Smile 2 such a blast to watch despite its unrelenting gnarliness, largely because for once, it finally acknowledges how absurd its concept is.
I consider the original to be dull and derivative, the smiles too silly to be scary, and its so-called “deep dives” about trauma too self-serious to be funny. With Smile 2, it seems like Finn cuts the nonsense and lets all hell break loose, leaning more on the weird wackiness of its internal chaos and unleashing something primal and instinctive in its mingling of the supernatural and psychology.
There is a notable scene where Skye Riley finds herself harassed in her apartment by her smiling backup dancers, and the way the choreography plays out as if it's some game of “Red Light, Green Light” between the two parties is some good wacky doodle fun — even if this is the umpteenth time in the movie where we see this character tormented by the demon without a chance to fight back. It's like watching deadites beating the crap out of Ash Williams, except the latter doesn't get to stick a boomstick up the former's butts and blow them to smithereens.
And sure, the film still pretends to have some sort of emotional core where the main character reaches a breakthrough and that it has something to say about trauma. But again, it's nothing new; it feels out of place, especially given how the curse of the Smile entity is framed as a mental virus where the cure is to take the easy way out. Thankfully, there's less screen time emphasizing that aspect, and more on how this wretched curse wreaks havoc on its playing field now that it possesses far greater power than where we initially left off in the previous installment.
Skye (Naomi Scott) is being forced to smile by the Smile demon in Smile 2 | Still from Paramount Pictures
I admit, it is very conflicting, wondering if I am supposed to laugh at a person's misfortunes in the film, especially considering its nasty self-inflicted gore. And yet, I can't help but feel the giddiness in certain sequences where they're clearly building up to one big jump scare, and how the film's threat is random people making an awful smile, who, on occasions, would charge at you. I find all these things more humorous than scary, and this film appears to harness that darkly comical side much more regularly than the oh-so-serious first movie. But if you’re the type of viewer who gets easily startled, then this is definitely going to be a rough ride for you.
And Finn really comes in swinging for the fences, starting from the film’s riveting cold open that's all presented as one continuous shot. There is a vicious ferocity in that whole opening sequence that is carried throughout much of the film. It feels like one loud declaration from the director himself: “If you think the first one is appalling, then you haven’t seen anything yet.” Even when the film ends up being a reiteration of its concept, that energy is something the first Smile lacks.
It also helps that Finn boasts significantly more confident direction that utilizes many tricks to accentuate an unnerving sense of dread and uncertainty. Naomi Scott also brings a delightfully manic, committed lead performance that makes her character feel more alive and desperate, which helps sell the film’s intensity. The deaths in these movies are all grisly and visceral to the point that any crunch of a bone or a stab in the face will make even the hardest of viewers flinch.
However, even with that ferocity, the film eventually gets way out of hand, especially towards the third act. Without spoiling anything, let's just say that Finn tries a bit too hard to subvert your expectations by making it hard to distinguish what’s real and what isn’t, only to reverse much of the film’s impact and lose much of its momentum. And unfortunately, despite those twists and turns along the way to keep you on your toes, Smile 2 still circles back around and ends up at the most obvious conclusion imaginable. It's a truly baffling story decision that renders the past events useless by the end of it and leaves you starved for a much more fulfilling and surprising climax.
Still, I'll take the new and improved product over the test drive any time.
