Movies & TV / Reviews
Smile 2 Review
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures
Loading...
Directed By: Parker Finn
Written By: Parker Finn
Runtime: 132 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated R for strong bloody violent content, grisly images, language throughout and drug use.
Naomi Scott – Skye Riley
Rosemarie DeWitt – Elizabeth Riley
Lukas Gage – Lewis Fregoli
Dylan Gelula – Gemma
Miles Gutierrez-Riley – Joshua
Raúl Castillo – Darius
Peter Jacobson – Morris
Kyle Gallner – Joel
Ray Nicholson – Paul Hudson
Drew Barrymore – Self
The phrase “battling your demons” is often used to describe individuals who suffer from unresolved trauma, mental disorders, crippling depression, or addictions. The Smile franchise depicts a premise where the demons that feed on peoples’ traumas and addictions are real, except in Smile it’s impossible to overcome the Smile Demon. The parasite feeds on its victims’ misery while they helplessly succumb to it. The horror sequel, Smile 2, picks up six days after the original’s ending, when Joel becomes the Smile Demon’s new unwitting demon. The film’s prologue picks up with Joel attempting to release himself from the malignant entity’s curse, seeking to transfer his infection to some murderous, degenerate Russian mobsters. The curse does transfer to the hapless bystander drug dealer, Lewis (Gage), but Joel becomes street-paste in the process, ending his role in the story with a shocking thud.
Writer-director Parker Finn then shifts perspective to the sequel’s new protagonist, Skye Riley (Scott), a pop star recovering from a devastating car accident and about to embark on a lucrative music tour. Skye truly has no business going on tour right now after her near life-threatening accident, but “everyone is counting” on her. She connects back to the film’s prologue through her former high school friend and dealer, Lukas, seeking some Vicodin to deal with chronic back pain. Unfortunately, Skye discovers Lukas in the final stages of the Smile Demon’s infection. After she witnesses Lukas brutally smashing himself with a weight plate, the Smile Demon infects Skye systemically dismantling her mind from the inside out.
Smile 2 changes the protagonist to a wealthy, troubled pop star, Skye Riley, from the modest hospital psychiatrist, Rose Cotter, in the original and freshens up the familiar premise. Scott delivers a dynamite performance and goes all in with Skye Riley, who handles a wide spectrum of emotions in Smile 2. Scott believably portrays a talented pop artist and displays Skye’s various facets, including: alienating her friends; her struggles with drug addiction; and her survivor’s guilt over the accident where her boyfriend, superstar actor Paul Hudson (Nicholson), lost his life. Additionally, Scott adeptly handles the sheer terror of a young woman being haunted and broken by a demonic entity beyond understanding.
The Smile Demon holds power because, to any external onlooker, its victims merely appear as unstable people experiencing psychotic breakdowns. The strength of Smile 2 lies in its portrayal of the hopelessness a person feels when experiencing emotional trauma or depression. The drawback is that the Smile feels oppressively bleak. Yet, that’s a style that horror aficionados might very well enjoy.
While Scott’s compelling, gripping performance as Skye shines brightest in Smile 2, Finn shows a knack in many scenes for externally visualizing Skye’s gradually unraveling psyche. Smile 2 features many clever, unnerving setups, such as a scene where Smile Demon-induced backup dancers play the world’s scariest version of freeze tag. However, Smile 2, much like the previous film, presents a mixed bag of frights. Despite Finn’s knack for psychological horror, he frequently resorts to cheap jump-scares. Finn does atmospheric, suspenseful creeps very well. It makes the film’s over-reliance on cheap jump-scares and thrills significantly more frustrating. Two or three well-placed jump-scares would have been fine. In a two-hour-plus film, the jump-scares in Smile 2 become downright tiresome.
Smile 2‘s plot predictably unravels in the final act, which presents more problems. At 132 minutes, the sequel runs rather long, and it recycles the same narrative tricks as the previous film. The plot introduces an expository character, Morris (Jacobson), who only exists so Skye can comprehend her horrifying ordeal. Morris, a lazy, weak narrative character, truly serves no purpose other than to provide exposition to the main character and anyone who might have missed the first one. The film’s second half disappointingly plays out like a repackaged, reheated version of the original.
Elsewhere, the stronger atmospheric elements of Finn’s direction, along with Charlie Sarroff’s mind-bending cinematography, effectively increase the film’s eerie ambiance. Sarroff frequently favors inverted angles and wide shots, usually with Skye Riley at the center of the action. The amazing cinematography works well in tandem with Skye’s crumbling mental state. The twisted cinematography and angles pair nicely with Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s modern, minimalist score. It’s a genuine horror movie soundtrack.
Smile 2, in multiple ways, improves on the original. It presents a wider scope and a compelling new protagonist with Skye Riley, and Scott delivers a dynamite lead performance. Finn certainly shows significant talent as a horror filmmaker, despite his penchant for cheap thrills and chills. However, the script meanders as the plot progresses, and it becomes too much of a predictable rehash of the original. Granted, fans of the original should be satisfied with the blood and gore elements dialed up to 11, and seeing the Smile Demon prey on its hopeless victims with a much larger budget. Smile 2 is a mixed bag, but it still satisfies in many ways.
