Posted by Smile 2; 2024; Written and directed by Parker Finn; Starring Naomi Scott, Rosemary DeWitt, Kyle Gallner; Rated 4; 2h7m; Paramount; Theatrically released October 18.
Pop star Skye Riley is already not in the best mindset. It’s been a year since a drug-fueled car accident killed her boyfriend, maimed her, and derailed her upward trajectory. The pause was probably for the best, she was on uneven footing with public breakdowns, shaky mental states, and crushed under the pressures of a public career. Now, she’s about to drop her comeback album and world tour and the wounds of the past haven’t healed. Unsure of herself and her ability and recovery,, in more pain than the small drugs she’s prescribed can manage, an overbearing stage mom, and more, she’s on the verge of cracking again. Oh, she also just watched her old friend and drug dealer violently kill himself in front of her, passing his curse onto her.
What a terrible night to have a curse.
Parker Finn’s Smile 2 is a sequel that surpasses the original. The first Smile was a solid flick, very well done with great performances from well-written characters. While in many ways it felt like a General Audience take on It Follows (or you can argue the “Suprise, You Got a Curse, Good Luck!” sub-genre has its well-trod Story Path), I still was on board.
With the set-up and details of the situation out of the way, along with the confidence of the success of Smile, returning writer-director Parker Finn takes what worked the first time and boosts it, with even better performances and story-telling, along with presenting some fantastic scare sequences.
Like the first, it’s great to have adults dealing with the situation, rather than the standard teens and just past. It gives more life to be lived and worked upon, or even mined by the demon/curse to mess with the victim. And like other serious horror films that strongly land, there is a metaphor to the horror that not only gives it more oomph but can feel if the supernatural is removed, there is a solid drama to build on already. The Babadook and Hereditary on grief, It Follows on the looming adulthood and responsibility (or STDs but I think it’s more than that), and the Night House of loneliness and loss. Akin to Talk to Me, Smile 2 talks about addiction, but in a different manner, how people treat and expect you to be post-addition and breakdown; the pressures of that, the PTSD, and for Smile 2 the added pressure of being a known pop star and all that entails. I can’t help but feel echoes of Perfect Blue, which I wrote about for 100 Days a few weeks ago (one fan/vision reflects the crazed fan of that film – I’d be willing to bet that’s on purpose).
It’s a film where, as the first entry suggests how the demon/curse works, so much depends on not knowing the truth of a situation, dream sequences, twisting realities, etc. But it never feels like a cheat or done purely for shock value. And there is plenty of shock. There’s no holding back to keep it palatable for the masses. It’s bloody, often nasty, and sometimes cruel. Finn puts together a heck of a film, using his camera and shot choices to great effect, bringing the audience fully into the person of Naomi Scott’s Skye Riley.
While it does increase on the original, Finn also has a sense of constrained control over it all. He knows just how far to push it, keeping it all a personal story. It would be tempting with a bigger budget (nearly twice) and a MORE push from the studio to go to the wall. With what’s set up in this entry, and another hit at this point (a bit behind the first right now on November 3rd at 52m but it’ll pay off at home too), I really look forward to going very big next time. But I’ll remark on that in another few years (with only a 2-year turnaround between Smile and Smile 2, it’s a nice pace). For Smile 2, Finn crafts a series of moments, building to fever pitches of unconformably and/or violence. Without giving any real details away, a set of dancers is used in a terrifyingly effective way.
As the troubled pop star, Naomi Scott is astounding, playing a complicated performance with a beautiful sense of unease. She’s been a chameleon in a variety of ensembles, Jasmine in the new Aladdin, a Charlie’s Angel for Elizabeth Banks, and Kimberly, the Pink Ranger in the new (and underappreciated) Power Rangers (I stand by the chameleon, she can look so different from scene to scene here), but Smile 2 will put her singularly in the eyes of audiences. This may seem weird but I have to note her eye acting. As much of the role is reactive to the liminal reality of the world around her, she can do so with the slightest widening of her expressive eyes. The remainder of the cast is amazingly chosen, especially Rosemary DeWitt as the pushy stage mom, and Miles Guietterez-Riley as an unreadable personal assistant. Both push just enough malice to wonder intentions and demon control. Shout out to Kyle Gallner, coming off the first and his fantastic turn in Strange Darling. He’s not in the film much but does what he can with it.
Smile 2 builds on its predecessor with a cool, constrained terror; presenting a star turn from Naomi Scott. A solid dramatic story of recovery and expectations serves as scaffolding for a series of terrific scare sequences (with some earned jump scares that work). Highly recommended
A
