Smile 2 Review

We don’t often see many films with fresh premises these days. Most of the time, it’s a rehash of another rehash. That’s why 2022’s Smile was such a refreshing movie when it was released, complete with its viral marketing glory. It wasn’t a perfect movie, but it was a fun new supernatural horror movie to enjoy. That said, I didn’t necessarily feel it needed a sequel. The film’s primary hook was explored extensively, and I was satisfied with it by the end. That’s why seeing a sequel to the first movie was so surprising. Even more surprising was how well they expanded on the idea from the first movie to make Smile 2 a chilling watch from start to finish.

Priming The Audience

The idea behind Smile 2 is the same as the first movie, where a supernatural force attaches itself to people like a parasite. This force makes their host see disturbing visions and makes them delve into madness for a week before forcing them to die by suicide. The difference here is that it only latches onto someone who has seen the suicide of its host. It was a creepy idea in the first movie, and this one is no less unsettling. The film begins with a prologue featuring a character from the first film to reintroduce this demon and prepare viewers for what’s to come, before starting fresh with a new cast of characters.

Skye Riley

At the heart of this film is pop star Skye Riley, played by Naomi Scott. Skye is preparing for a comeback tour after a rough year that saw the death of her boyfriend in a car accident. This, coupled with Skye’s troubles with substance abuse, makes for a perfect story of redemption in any ordinary film. Unfortunately, this is no ordinary film, and Smile 2 leans into this addiction angle to create the opportunity for this demon to latch onto Skye. I won’t spoil anything more than that, but it’s a simple and effective way to begin Skye’s story arc and subsequent battle against this entity.

Watching Skye delve into madness was so compelling. She starts to have visions, and the people around her start to wonder if she’s using again. She becomes short-tempered with her anger, and people start to look at her strangely. Skye even begins to question her sanity more and more, using her coping mechanism for her substance abuse (drinking water) more prominently as the film goes on, to the point where it becomes annoying until it’s explained. She even invites her best friend back into her life after being an absolute jerk to her and telling her she never wanted to talk to her again months earlier.

Naomi Scott Shines

Naomi Scott plays the role of Skye perfectly. I don’t think the movie would have played out as well as it did without a performance like hers. It almost feels like you’re living her daily life with her as she attempts to prepare for her comeback while dealing with the issues this entity is causing. Skye appears to have her life together and is getting on the right track until minor incidents occur, and she becomes less reliable and more erratic. The team of people around her tries to keep her on the right track, but everything begins to crumble around her, and Naomi can convey every bit of that emotion in her actions.

The way her madness expands as the movie continues is something to behold. It starts with little things like seeing a smiling child come to her autograph signing and never breaking eye contact. This is where it felt like the movie would be more of a rehash of the first one, but then it flips things on its head by making you question what is real. There’s a fantastic moment where what looks to be her backup dancers are all closing in on her in her apartment, coming down from the hallway’s walls and into the main room, engulfing Skye in a sea of hands. I can’t go into all of these moments, but it had me scratching my head at specific points, trying to figure things out.

Never a Dull Moment

Director Parker Finn does a great job keeping audiences on their toes for most of the film. However, his bag of tricks wears thin, given the movie’s length. Smile 2 clocks in at 2 hours and 12 minutes long and does drag on just a little bit in the middle. I was never bored, but it felt like some of the mind games being played were starting to become too predictable in the last third of the movie. You can only spin the camera upside down so many times before it loses its effect. In contrast, he also manages to get your guard down, only to give you a jolt out of nowhere very effectively throughout the entire runtime.

A Fitting End

The ending of this movie is probably predictable, even if you’ve watched the trailer. I had the idea weeks before I ever watched the movie. I’m not sure if everyone will identify it quite that easily, but even if you do, it doesn’t diminish the effectiveness of the ending. It was a fantastic cap to the movie and one of the most memorable endings I’ve seen in a long time. The best part about it is that you can argue that there will or won’t be a sequel because it leaves the door open for either one in a satisfying way.

Conclusion

Smile 2 is a movie that will test your sanity at times. It is full of shocking moments and will keep your eyes glued to the screen for most of the film. It’s one of my favorite sequels in recent memory and proved that this concept has legs for more than just a one-off film without getting too stale.