While Smile was a moderately fun horror pic, it didn’t leave me all that eager for a sequel. In fact, I felt like the premise of the 2022 film—some sort of smiley demon inhabits people and pushes them to kill themselves—was played out by the film’s end.
However, Smile 2 turns out to be one of this year’s greater horror delights, up there with Cuckoo and The Substance. This is a rare sequel that picks things up after the first film and improves upon that premise. While the smiley demon is still causing plenty of mayhem, writer-director Parker Finn takes this sequel as an opportunity to do so much more.
After a prologue that features a character from the first chapter, the action picks up in a way that surprises—and builds upon the premise. Naomi Scott flat-out brings it as Skye Riley, a Gaga-esque pop star trying to make a comeback after a tragic accident took the life of her boyfriend (Ray Nicholson, son of Jack and dead ringer for asshole-supreme Matt Gaetz). In addition to her grief, Skye is trying to stay sober after a rough stretch of substance abuse.
Skye has a run-in with somebody infected with the smiley demon—and this exacerbates all of her current issues while supplying a new doozy. Skye becomes the most unreliable of protagonists, somebody constantly in danger of going off the tracks for many reasons, not the least of them being a relentless supernatural curse. The viewer winds up trusting nothing they are seeing onscreen—and that makes the movie all the more fun.
Scott delivers such a wild range of work that she deserves some Oscar buzz alongside Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley for their work in The Substance. I submit that Scott’s work here is superior to theirs, and they were impressive. There’s almost no chance she’ll get a nom given the film’s status as a horror sequel, but man, oh man, does she do great work.
Finn does a terrific job keeping his audience off balance with solid twists, lots of effective jump scares and masterful editing. With the exception of a lag after the film’s midway point, Smile 2 is a snappy, great-looking, expertly paced endeavor. The sight of characters suddenly sporting that creepy smile before madness ensues has not lost its creep factor. It’s also bloody as all heck for you gore hounds.
The ending provides worldwide implications for what could happen in Smile 3, a movie that will most certainly come to fruition. Smile 2 is a great standalone horror film, as well as a sequel that leaves you anxious for the next chapter.
