Smile 2 review
Bigger is better in Smile 2. It finds new ways to play with its curse…and opens up the world to endless possibilities going forward.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Smile 2
Directed by Parker Finn
Written by Parker Finn
Starring Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson and Dylan Gelula
Smile 2 Review
It’s hard to believe now but the entire Smile phenomenon almost wasn’t. Parker Finn’s 2022 breakout hit was originally intended as a direct to streaming release for Paramount Plus. Positive screening reactions changed the fate of a franchise and delivered the studio a massive hit. Just two short years later…Smile 2 hits theaters as spooky season’s biggest release. Parker Finn brings a bigger scope to his trauma meets curse sequel. In the case of Smile 2…bigger really is better.
Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is a pop star looking to make a comeback from a traumatic event. She inherits the dreaded Smile curse after watching a friend commit suicide. If the stress of being a recovering drug abuser and the pressure of relaunching her career weren’t enough…horrific visions begin to plague her. As her traumas are laid out in front of her…the clock is ticking on her own violent end.
My friend (and podcast co-host) guessed the ending of Smile 2. All he knew about the movie was that it was centered on a pop star. He’d recently seen the original for the show…and that’s all the information he needed to predict the exact circumstances Smile 2 would build up to. It was impressive…but obvious in retrospect. The story feels reverse engineered from its final idea. It’s a good idea that shouldn’t be easily dismissed just because someone could figure it out with nothing but a character description. It speaks to the big issue the series must contend with going forward. There’s only so many ways to surprise inside of a predictable pattern. The ending my co-host was able to guess, ironically, opens the door to a whole new world of storytelling in the inevitable Smile 3.
We can’t get into how Smile 2 wraps up Skye Riley’s story…but we can say that Parker Finn understands his franchise very well. He knows when and how to deploy a jump scare. He knows how to tell a trauma horror story. And, yes, he knows how to handle that predictability problem going forward. The first movie was a quiet nightmare. This is its louder, more extravagant sibling. Everything is bigger and brighter than it was in the last go around. Smile turned towards an investigative horror story…resembling The Ring in more than a few ways. Smile 2 forgoes the investigation into what we already know and doubles its efforts on creating a compelling lead character.
Naomi Scott shines as Riley Skye. Aside from the opening scene (which connects this sequel directly to the ending of the original), Scott’s pop star is on screen 100 percent of the time. The entire movie rests on her shoulders…or, more accurately, her face. There is an almost unnerving number of closeups in Smile 2. Finn is so in love with Scott’s face that he often gives it several extra beats to react to the horror we haven’t seen yet. It is a unique way to build anticipation of the inevitable horror image that will pop onto screen…and a clever way to pay off the amount of closeup screen time the face gets. The role is a physically demanding one. Scott dances, limps, screams and shakes her way through the story with an incredible amount of energy.
Smile 2 is a bit looser with the way it uses the curse than the first movie was. With more time devoted to the horrors Riley is experiencing…it allows the character (and viewer) to get completely lost in what is real and what isn’t. You may be left with some questions about how everything works…but there’s no issue in accepting that things make sense inside of this world. Smile 2 goes bigger in every way than its predecessor. Including extended sequences of unexplainable horror brushed away with barely a notice.
But it does those sequences incredibly well. Finn may be the modern master of the jump scare. Unlike Smile, this sequel’s trailers didn’t give away its most effective moments. He builds a story where no moment…no camera angle…is safe. If we don’t know what’s real and what isn’t…anything can happen. Smile 2 uses this against us in the best of ways. The bigger scope of the story makes the sense of dread less effective than it was in 2022’s version. In response, Finn ratchets up the gore, unsettling imagery and jumps scares. Smile 2 never lets you feel safe from moment to moment. Even if many of those moments end up not really counting.
If Smile was intended for home viewing…Smile 2 was built for the big screen. It’s bigger in every way…and it’s better for it. Some of the beats may feel familiar…but Parker Finn and company know exactly what they’re doing. Naomi Scott is excellent. The gore and jumps are top-notch. The franchise has an exciting direction going forward. On the big screen in the middle of spooky season puts this sequel right where it belongs.
Scare Value
With a standout lead performance, a director in full control of his universe, and some of the best jump scares around, Smile 2 is more than just a worthy sequel to the hit original. It’s a bigger version of the story…built for the big screen from the ground up. Parker Finn goes a step further and future proofs his franchise against repetition and predictability. The way he gets there may be expected…but it’s still a trip worth taking.
3.5/5
Smile 2 Link
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