Movie Review: A Smile is Contagious…

The original “Smile” by Parker Finn movie was one I put off watching until just recently when I was preparing to see its anticipated sequel. 

     The movie focuses on a paranormal curse that causes those afflicted by it to experience visions of people smiling eerily at them causing their minds to question what is real or not. This setup led to a lot of moments of psychological horror that pulled a lot of narrative tricks leaving the audience to also question what was real or not.

     While I did enjoy this first movie, I was hopeful that its sequel, “Smile 2”, would remedy some of the issues I had with the first movie. Finn is back to direct this sequel which now stars young pop idol, Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), as the lead who has become afflicted with the curse. As we are now following a pop idol character, a lot of the psychological horror comments on the immense stress that comes from stardom as well as the struggles that come from dealing with mental illness.

     While I do believe this to be a better film than the first one, it ultimately still has many of the same problems that I hoped were going to be fixed. For starters, one can argue that this is the same movie as the first one just with a different coat of paint which I would find hard to argue with. If you have seen the first movie, a lot of the tricks and story beats it uses are used again in the sequel making it not as surprising of a watch.

     The film does have more style and flair than the first movie with many visually interesting scenes that tie into pop stardom and spiraling out of control. The movie also has an incredible opening sequence that does a fantastic job of setting the tone of the film and just being incredibly innovative for the horror genre.

     These positives do not outweigh the major negative I have with this film, that being that it is an exhausting movie to watch. For starters, the amount of jumpscares the film employs increases over the first movie and is used so frequently that I was becoming frustrated. 

     The story of the film is also deeply miserable with extended sequences of violence and traumatic imagery that will be uncomfortable for many people who watch it. By the time the film was finished, I felt very drained from the entire experience. If you are someone who needs even the smallest ray of sunshine in your films, this is not the movie for you.

      This is not a movie I could easily recommend to anyone as I would not say I had a good time watching it myself. I feel the movie slowly beats you down the same way it does its main character which is a feeling I know some might greatly enjoy from a movie, I have a harder time appreciating this feeling though. 

     What I can say is that if you really enjoyed the first movie you might have a better time with its sequel while those who were put off by it, might be better off just skipping this one.