Smile 2 Review: A Twisted Horror Sequel That Doesn't Let Up

"Smile 2" is relentless. It's a non-stop spookshow that just keeps increasing in madness, building towards a grand finale that pretty much absolves the film of any negative issues you might have. Don't worry, I'm not dipping into spoiler territory here, other than to say that this is a film that seems to be living proof of the age-old adage that the last 10 minutes make a movie. If you pull off a killer ending, everyone is going to overlook your flaws. And yes, "Smile 2" has some flaws. For one thing, the film stretches on way too long — did this thing need to clock in at over 2 hours? For another, director Parker Finn, who also wrote and directed 2022's "Smile," has a bag of tricks he reuses way too often: easy-to-predict jumpscares and a fondness for frequently flipping the camera upside-down as if to say "Get it??! Things are weird!" These elements start to get a little tiresome.

And yet ... gosh, this movie kind of works, doesn't it? When I saw the first "Smile" at its premiere back at Fantastic Fest in 2022, I'll admit that I was slightly cold on the pic. I didn't dislike it, exactly — I just felt like Finn was borrowing too heavily from horror movies that came before, especially "The Ring." But when I revisited "Smile" on Blu-ray on more than one occasion, a curious thing happened: I grew to love it. I appreciated the manic energy Finn was able to create, and I loved, loved, loved the toothy appearance of the film's monster seen in the fiery climax. As such, I was looking forward to "Smile 2," and I'll tip my hat to Finn and say that he's made a sequel that's bigger, meaner, and just a smidge more interesting. Like the first film, "Smile 2" understands that humor and horror often go hand in hand, and a lot of the moments in this sequel illicit intentional laughs. Just when you've let your guard down due to amusement, the film will suddenly bark in your face and give you a jolt. Is it a little cheap? Sure. Does it work? Yes, yes it does. 

"Smile 2" might make for an interesting double-feature with another 2024 film — Coralie Fargeat's bonkers "The Substance." Because self-loathing is at the heart of both films; they share main characters who are both famous women cursed with a type of self-hatred that plagues on their minds and leads them down dark avenues. In "Smile 2," our lead is Skye Riley, a pop star (has she ever performed with Lady Raven?) who is staging a big comeback tour after a year out of the spotlight. We learn that a year ago, Skye was in a car accident that killed her boyfriend and left her badly injured. She was hooked on drink and drugs at the time, and in the year since, she's healed up and gotten sober. Now she's ready to get back on stage, much at the urging of her manager and mother (Rosemarie DeWitt).

Skye is played by Naomi Scott, who is sensational here. This is by no means Scott's first film (she was in the not-so-bad "Power Rangers" movie, the blockbuster live-action remake of Disney's "Aladdin," and also the already forgotten "Charlie's Angels" reboot), but her work in "Smile 2" feels like a true coming out; a signal that she's supremely talented and deserves to blow up in a big way. Scott is wrung through the wringer, and we're with her every step of the way, watching as her sanity snaps and she grapples with both supernatural horrors and her own inner loathing. Yes, she's rich and famous, but what does that all add up to? "Smile 2" goes to great lengths to show us that fame ain't it's all cracked up to be — it's lonely being so visible. And Skye's troubled past only haunts her more, casting a pall on her entire life. 

As you'll recall from the first film, the major hook of "Smile" is that some sort of supernatural force latches onto people like a parasite and starts stalking them around (think "It Follows," without the sex). As is usually the case for these sorts of supernatural curses, there are rules: the smile-monster latches onto someone, causes them to see disturbing visions (including people flashing big, creepy grins), drives them insane for about a week, and then forces them to die by suicide. The key here is that someone else has to witness the suicide: that's how the infection, for lack of a better word, gets spread.

While Skye is off booze and cocaine, she still takes the occasional Vicodin for a back injury she suffered in the car accident. Due to her history with drugs, obtaining Vicodin is difficult (this is one of the more unbelievable aspects of a film about smile-monsters; do famous pop stars really have trouble getting drugs?). And so, one night, Skye heads over to the apartment of drug dealing acquaintance Lewis (Lukas Gage). Unfortunately, Lewis is inflicted with the curse/whatever you want to call it, and he proceeds to brutally bash his own face in right in front of her (this is in the movie's trailer, it's not a spoiler, I swear). Witnessing Lewis' death is traumatic enough on its own, but soon Skye is experiencing horrific visions and going completely out of her mind as a result. She starts seeing smiling people everywhere, including the apparition of her dead boyfriend (Ray Nicholson, who is Jack Nicholson's son and has clearly inherited his father's grin). 

In order for the demonic infection to work, reality needs to be questionable. Skye is constantly experiencing horrific, jump-scare laden images, which allows writer-director Finn to stage some memorable moments (a scene where Skye invisions all of her back-up dancers grinning and advancing on her like a flash-mob from hell is a real highlight). However, this also means the film gets to cheat a lot. Don't know how to end a scene? Well, here's an easy solution: say it was all in Skye's head! This happens over and over again, and after about the fifth time, you start to see how the sausage is made: the script produces an outlandish scenario, gets stuck with how to advance it further, and then quickly twists its way out by saying it was all pretend. For Skye, who is experiencing all of this firsthand, it's understandably traumatic. For the audience, it can get a little tedious. 

And yet, I had a lot of (twisted) fun with watching it all play out. I was taken with Scott's go-for-broke performance, and the way she makes Skye feel like a real person going through absolute hell. I might've rolled my eyes around the third time Finn flipped the camera upside down to convey unease, but I'll also admit he knows exactly how to build delightfully scary tension from scene to scene, expertly baiting us right before the hook stabs into our cheek. And then there's that ending I talked about. I have a feeling you're going to be able to predict it as you watch the movie, but that doesn't make it any less effective. It's pretty damn great. You might even walk out of the theater smiling.

/Film Rating: 7 out of 10

"Smile 2" opens in theaters on October 18, 2024.