Smile 2 (2024)

Smile was a bit of a surprise when it came out in 2022.  Based on a short film by writer and director Parker Finn, and similar in style to many of the modern horror films that hinge more on atmosphere and tension than on a series of jump scares, it introduced us to a creature called the Entity.  The rules are simple: it latches on to a host like a parasite and feeds on their fears and negative energy for up to a week.  During that time the person is driven mad and the Entity gains more and more control until that person commits suicide in front of the next host, all the while with a rictus smile on their face. 

Because of the political climate at the time I thought it was going to have some underlying feminist message, along the lines of not telling women to smile or not smiling at them, reinforced by a female lead.  Instead, it took a concept that wasn't brand new and did something interesting with it, leaving the protagonist dead at the end and her friend Joel (Kyle Gallner) as the next host. 

Smile 2 begins six days after the end of the first film, with Joel attempting to move the creature into someone deserving, a Russian drug dealer named Yev (Roberts Jekabsons).  His plans go awry and he is killed in a traffic accident, thus passing the Entity along to another random person.  About a year later pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), who has recovered from her own accident and addiction problems, is preparing to go on a comeback tour.  When visiting a dealer named Lewis (Lukas Gage) to get some Vicodin for her back he freaks out and, with a smile, commits suicide in front of her. 

With the Entity now part of her Skye's life begins to spiral out of control as it preys on her guilt from the way she treated her former best friend Gemma (Dylan Gelula) to her part in the death of her boyfriend, actor Paul Hudson (Ray Nicholson) and her strained relationship with her mother Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt).  As those around her become concerned as well as try to manipulate her into going forward with the tour despite her deteriorating mental state she is contacted by Morris (Peter Jacobson), an ER nurse who has been pursuing the Entity due to the death of his brother at its hands.

I have found that a number of critics believe Smile 2 to be one of the rare sequels that outdoes the original.  On that I have to disagree.  As usual it is important to push the story a bit more and make what happens bigger, if not better, in the second film, and in many ways it works.  Lewis's death is well done and the pursuit of a number of smiling simulations of Skye's backup dancers through her apartment is creative.  The ending went pretty much as it should, with my main complaint being that Finn tried to be too clever with the wrap-up at the end.

There are quite a few problems.  Unlike many music fans I don't become uncontrollably angry when I hear pop music.  I don't care for it, but I also understand it's not for me, but rather for children or for people who need easily digestible background music to get them through their day.  It's manufactured, as is the image and the eventual downfall of the personality to make way for the next prefab star.  What I never get is the sense of importance placed on someone like Lady GaGa or Taylor Swift.  It is not a character that I can relate to, despite the efforts to humanize them.  The attempt to get the audience to care about a fake amalgam of a vapid celebrities that become little more than an irritation due to constant media attention kind of falls flat.  I know that it has to be done this way for the concept Finn had in mind going forward for the franchise because true rock stars no longer exist, but I wouldn't have found it any more relatable with that kind of character either as that was a tedious archetype in its own time. 

It doesn't help that Skye isn't a likable person.  Sure, she is being manipulated, but pretty much is okay with that until the Entity starts playing around with her psyche.  It doesn't take much to push her into acting out against those close to her and displaying the entitled behavior one would expect from a young, sheltered star.  I did hope that she would have more success against the Entity than Rose did in the original movie, but that is more for story reasons.  When it comes down to that we don't learn much more about the creature than we already knew from the first, although Finn has some good cosmic horror vibes going with its design. 

The problems separate from the main character are that, despite some good makeup design, Finn needs to dial it back so it doesn't become unintentionally hilarious.  Some of the deaths do slide into Evil Dead II territory, and I don't think this is what he wanted.   There is also the repeated product placement for Voss water, even to the point of working it into the plot through Skye's water obsession.  I prefer seeing real products in movies, but when the entire movie starts to feel like an ad for that product it is obvious things have gone too far.

Despite all this, and an overlong running time, many of the good points from the original carry over.  Finn's directing is as visually appealing as ever, using many clever transitions between scenes, and he is much better at doing creepy than full-on bloody - although he figures out how to do that right with Joel's death at the beginning.  Although I don't like the character that is no reflection Naomi Scott herself who fully commits to this movie and pretty much should be able to use this role to go in whatever direction she wants with her career.  As for Finn, the franchise should get more interesting from here, and hopefully he is able to handle it.  If not then he may want to hand the writing off to someone that can interpret his ideas and stick to being behind the camera, as in the end this still comes out as a solid, but shallow, horror film like the original. 

Smile 2 (2024)

Time: 127 minutes

Starring: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Miles Gutierrez-Riley

Director: Parker Finn