‘Smile 2’ Review: A Killer Sequel With A Lot More Pop

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While it’s not unheard of for horror films to maintain a sense of continuity, part of what works in the genre’s favor is the ability to provide a reset. When 2022’s Smile went from potential Paramount+ release to a box office hit, that meant keeping writer/director Parker Finn on board to develop a sequel. Not to say he didn’t already have ideas in mind, but Smile 2 does benefit from being the kind of sequel that can play off the first while still providing audiences a fresh start with new characters dealing with similar circumstances. The movie is even stronger because of a far more assured grip on producing a compelling, creepy, and often jolting horror experience. With less focus on pushing obvious thematic buttons, this film delivers the goods frequently and is held together by confident filmmaking and a demanding yet effective lead performance from Naomi Scott, resulting in one of the best horror films of the year.

Scott stars as Skye Riley, a famous pop star who is just coming back into her own following a reckless period of her life that culminated in a traumatizing car wreck and the death of her actor boyfriend (Ray Nicholson, son of Jack – you can tell by the smile). However, just as she’s days away from starting a new world tour, circumstances lead to her interacting with an old friend (Lukas Gage) whose strange behavior and disturbing grin lead to him killing himself in front of her. Alarmed but still trying to hold it together, Skye is now balancing an already chaotic life with increasingly upsetting visions of menace. So, with a force of evil that can take the form of anyone, can Skye do more than just cope to stop it?​

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As is always the case, films focused on demons or whatever sort of supernatural entity that chooses havoc and evil over anything else tend to be mean-spirited. That means that while there are some rules in place for how this bizarre smile-themed presence functions, it makes the proceedings feel hopeless for anyone caught in its path. Sure, we’ll get a character like Peter Jacobson’s Morris, who can provide some insight and plans to possibly stop this thing. However, much like the first film, you’re still having to deal with a character forced to lose so much understanding of what’s real and what isn’t while being scared out of their mind on a frequent basis.

However, unlike the first film, Smile 2 wants to engage the audience more through the horror and thrills of it all. Part of my issues with that first film came down to balancing its overall dreariness (down to the lighting choices) with a clear desire to include a camp factor embodied by actors like Kyle Gallner (who returns for this sequel), who got a lot of mileage out of their reactions to what can be perceived as ridiculous situations. Smile 2 doesn’t run into these problems. The tone feels much more consistent, with a strong eye going toward making the film both visually engaging and entertaining.​



That entertainment comes in many forms. As “fun” as it is to see how this all plays out, make no mistake, this is a gruesome, R-rated horror movie, and it certainly knows how to deliver on some gory moments. Faces are smashed, bones are broken, things are shoved into areas of the body where they do not belong, and smiles are sometimes just the tip of the iceberg when considering how far this movie goes in showing the crowd all aspects of a person’s mouth. Is it gross? Sure. Plus, to make matters more intense, the violence largely relies on a level of reality to really sell it. And not for nothing, this film goes out of its way to provide plenty of jolts. It comes from sound design and score-based choices but also matches the film’s energy, as opposed to feeling like they are being thrown in just for the sake of it.

At the same time, while not hysterically funny, there is a feeling that Finn wants this film to have a good sense of humor about itself. It’s not so much seeing Smile 2 act as if it’s above it all or knowing in any way but more about the extent to which Skye is pushed and how those around her react. Whether it’s the incredibly cringe-worthy moments that involve Skye’s positioning in public settings while she’s being tormented or the way people respond to seeing a pop star in real life while the audience has to keep the horror context in mind, there’s an effort going into the silliness factor that allows the tension to break when needed.​



Plus, Smile 2 really knows how to stay on track. While I mentioned a scene that does feature some exposition, this is not a film that gets bogged down in research like the previous entry. Instead, we are with Skye at every turn, and the movie, while over two hours, doesn’t find much reason to hold us back from the sort of mayhem it has lured moviegoers in to see. Things kick off with a bang in the opening minutes, which features one of many sequences structured as a long continuous shot to keep us in the moment. Add to that some killer camera angle choices, an offbeat score, and plenty of classical ways to keep the audience on their toes, and you have a movie that really wants to be the fright fest of October 2024.

While Parker Finn deserves plenty of credit for having an even stronger hold on how to direct his material this time around, so much of this film’s success comes from the strength of Naomi Scott. For one thing, she feels like a real-deal pop star. From Scott’s general stage presence to the film’s effort to really get into the processes involved in being a recording artist about to go on tour (we see practices, elaborate costumes, publicity, and more), there’s an authenticity to this component of the film that makes her efforts all the stronger. With that in mind, it’s rewarding to see Scott inhabit a character whose world is so intertwined with being a celebrity and going through a terrifying experience involving creepy and/or dead people smiling at her from various distances.​



The previous film wanted to tie the popular theme of trauma into the proceedings, which is a fair choice but came off as more of a surface-level idea than something to really contend with. This time around, Skye is someone who has had problems with addiction, and previous times of suffering have left her somewhat fragile. Seeing Smile 2 make more of an argument for what it means to have devastating issues regarding mental health feels all the more potent because of how little it spends time shouting out the obvious to the audience. Instead, we are just experiencing extreme situations alongside her, with it being simple enough to take on various readings afterward.

I greatly admire a sequel that can properly pick up where things left off previously and find a way to upgrade nearly every element of what was working. With Smile 2, it’s pretty straightforward – the film has the scares, an outstanding lead performance (along with solid work from supporting performers like Rosemarie DeWitt and Dylan Gelula), and plenty of filmmaking innovation to give this horror sequel an identity. I may not have always been happy seeing poor Skye suffer. Still, I was undoubtedly exiting the theater with a sufficient grin, considering how successful this horror flick was.​

Smile 2 opens in theaters on October 18, 2024.





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