Dir: Parker Finn
Cast: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Ray Nicholson, Dylan Gelula, Raul Castillo, Kyle Gallner
Having been put through an emotional wringer, Naomi Scott delivers one of the most stellar modern horror performances in Parker Finn’s superior sequel to the 2022 hit “Smile”
****This review contains spoilers for “Smile” (2022)****
Back in the noughties, the horror industry was in dire straits. After a brief revival the decade prior thanks to the meta-hits of Kevin Williamson, such as “Scream” (1996), “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (1997) and “The Faculty” (1998), the industry once again became laden with hastily developed remakes and prequels of classic horror properties, proving to be nothing more than a quick cash grab for Hollywood. While we still get some painfully dull legacy sequels today, the horror genre has undergone a major revival over the past decade, with exciting, fresh-faced filmmakers such as Jordan Peele, Ari Aster and Robert Eggers, rewriting the rulebook on how to make a great horror picture. These more psychological and socially topical releases have been referred to as “elevated horror” over the years, and have set an insanely high bar for the once simple, yet effective genre. Already this year we have seen the likes of “Blink Twice”, “The Substance” and “Longlegs” touch on thought provoking topics, all the while offering the edge of the seat thrills and chills associated with the genre, and while these so-called “elevated horror” flicks do provide more of an emotional and intellectual challenge, sometimes old-school scares and violence cannot be beaten.
This was proven in 2022, with the world still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and the movie industry still yet to once again find its feet. While there was some original, high concept horrors released that year, most notably Halina Reijn‘s “Bodies Bodies Bodies” and Peele’s “Nope”, the most spine-tingling scary release of the year was Parker Finn‘s smash hit “Smile”. Adapted from Finn’s own short film “Laura Hasn’t Slept”, “Smile” quickly became a box-office sensation thanks to an ingenious marketing ploy by Paramount Pictures, going onto gross $217 million worldwide, the most of any horror release that year. While it may not have had a long lasting affect on me once I left my screening, the first film had me consistently jumping from my seat due to the movie’s excessive use of jump scares as well as its sudden acts of brutal and realistic violence throughout a nerve shattering 2-hour runtime. As a result of the critical and financial success of the first film, it came as no surprise when Paramount announced a sequel had been greenlit in 2023, with Finn returning to write and direct.
Set only a matter of days after the events of the first film, we are reintroduced to Joel (Kyle Gallner), a police officer who was cursed by the Smile Entity at the end of the previous film, having witnessed Rose commit suicide by self-immolation. Joel, fully aware of his perilous situation, has to pass the curse on to an unsuspecting victim and has chosen a drug dealer responsible for the recent murders of a local family. A chaotic shootout ensues resulting in an unplanned visitor named Lewis (Lukas Gage) becoming the one afflicted with the parasitic curse.
Meanwhile, Grammy-winning pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) prepares for her comeback after a public struggle with substance abuse and a car crash that killed her actor boyfriend, Paul (Ray Nicholson). Under constant supervision from her overbearing mother, Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt), Skye sneaks out to buy medication for her back pain from a terror-stricken Lewis. Disregarding Lewis’ claims of horrifying hallucinations, believing them to be a result of his drug-abuse, Skye is suddenly left traumatized when Lewis violently smashes his own face to bits with a heavy weight. Despite having put her past addictions behind her, the “Smile Entity” begins to feed on Skye’s insecurities, slowly driving her insane, concerning her mother, assistant Josh (Mile Gutierrez-Riley) and record label head Darius (Raul Castillo) as she prepares for her comeback tour.
Like so many other horror sequels that have come before, “Smile 2” could have easily been developed purely to further line the incredibly deep pockets of the Hollywood bigwigs that made it so. However, instead of re-treading what made the first instalment so enjoyably terrifying, Finn cleverly expands upon the lore of his daisy-chaining supernatural being. We not only get a better understanding as to how the entity manipulates and terrorises its host by using their deepest regrets and weaknesses against them, but we also get a more fleshed out allegory for mental health, and how those undergoing psychological trauma continue to put on a happy face despite their internal angst and depression, this is further highlighted by Skye’s celebrity status as a pop star. Always in the limelight and to expected radiate joy and happiness onto her adoring fans, Skye is unwillingly forced by her profiteering mother to return to music, despite her ongoing mental and physical struggles. As Skye succumbs further to the entity, she begins to lose grasp on reality, but her public status still prevents her from expressing her true feelings to those close to her, fearing that it will be misinterpreted as her relapsing.
Skye’s character background and strenuous battle to take control of her own emotions is what makes “Smile 2” so great, and while I found Sosie Bacon to be a formidable lead in the first film, her central character was not given the levels of depth or exploration that Scott has to work with. This central role would be a hell of a demanding part for any actress, and Scott absolutely smashes it out the park. Having been limited by painfully underwritten characters in her previous big screen roles in “Power Rangers” (2017), “Aladdin” (2018) and “Charlie’s Angels” (2018), Scott manages to sell the immense levels of fear and anguish that have overtaken Skye’s life. It is a triple-threat performance by the live-action Princess Jasmine, who utilises her excellent vocal and dance work to create a more than believing modern day popstar – Sky Riley blows “Trap”‘s Lady Raven out of the water. Scott is put through an emotional and physical wringer for two hours, appearing in very frame barring an excellently shot, one-take cold open, that seamlessly brings both films together.
Much like its predecessor, “Smile 2” is an old-school, jump-out-your-seat horror picture, with Finn crafting multiple simple but effective jump scares. The classic horror trope can become predictable and tiresome if misjudged, but Cristobal Tapia de Veer‘s experimental score mixed with the eerie sound design, keeps the intensity levels high throughout the surprisingly lengthy but brisk 140 minute runtime.
While I found the first film to be a solid classic horror flick, Finn’s sequel has surpassed it in every aspect, from the central performance to the narrative themes, but most impressively it never forgets its origins and continues to embrace its undeniably silly central concept. The writer-director smartly prevents from exploiting mental illness purely for cheap scares and instead focuses on the truths behind the trauma that both the franchise’s heroines have experienced. The film does fall down however slightly in an overly twisty final act, which overplays its hand when it comes to what is real and what is not. By the time we reach the unfortunate grand finale, I was only left with more questions as to how much of the film played out in reality or in Skye’s increasingly fractured mind.
“Smile 2” is a much more ambitious exploration of mental health than the first film, which it is superior to in every way. Most notably with its lead performance, with Naomi Scott delivering one of the most captivating horror performances in recent memory. While there is plenty of room open for the franchise to continue, I am more curious to see what Finn does next outside of “Smile”.
Smile 2 is now showing in UK Cinemas
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