Smile wears its influences firmly on its sleeve, for better or for worse. A fantastic central performance and an honest examination of trauma mostly elevate it for the better. Smile arrives in theaters on September 30.
Reviews of new movies will not contain spoilers.
Smile
Directed by Parker Finn
Written by Parker Finn
Starring Sosie Bacon, Kyle Gallner, Caitlin Stasey and Jessie T. Usher
Smile Review
Smile makes no attempt to hide that its central conceit isn’t the most original. Its structure is taken directly from The Ring (or more accurately Ringu). The seemingly unstoppable monster that can only be seen by its target was done to perfection by It Follows. Smile puts its own spin on these ideas and adds an extra layer of discussion about trauma. What could have easily been a forgettable retread is instead an effectively unsettling and worthwhile watch.
When Dr. Rose Cotter witnesses the suicide of a patient, she begins to experience the same terrors the patient had been describing. Haunted by a smiling entity no one else can see, those around her believe Rose is unraveling. Her family history with mental illness provides an easy scapegoat for her collapsing mental state. Rose must investigate the history of this apparent curse to try and find a way to break the cycle.
The main thing Smile has going for it is a knockout lead performance by Sosie Bacon. The nature of the story put her front and center in every scene. Bacon only gets better as the story takes her from respected doctor to perceived nutcase. She elevates the movie through a few lulls and occasional absurdity with an assured performance. In lesser hands aspects of this movie just wouldn’t work.
While there are a few shrug worthy moments throughout, Smile often manages to maintain a high level of creepiness. You’ve seen these beats before…but that doesn’t stop Smile from delivering a good number of jumps. Not everything works, but more than enough does. It’s a confident debut feature for writer/director Parker Finn. He knows what you expect, and he knows when to give it to you, and when not to. Times where you’re sure something will happen, and nothing does, are as effective as times where they do.
Where Smile really forges its own path is in its discussion of trauma and mental illness. Rose’s occupation and personal history offer the opportunity for frank discussion of these heavy topics. The cycle of traumatic events and confronting one’s personal demons provides the film with a welcome and fresh lens. Treating the story’s heightened events as a more complex problem helps it avoid easy answers. These aren’t just things a person can move past. Traumatic events have repercussions that can last a lifetime. Smile never lets that truth off the hook.
As mentioned, not everything in Smile works. The viewer is too often ahead of the story which can make the characters catching up a bit of a slog. A few effects and sequences come off a bit silly despite the best efforts of the director and star. Clocking in at nearly 2 hours, you walk away feeling like there is a better 90-minute movie in there. You will, however, get your fill of atmosphere and jump scares to mostly make up for it. Some scenes are so effective you can be caught wondering what if the ones that didn’t work had…or were removed altogether.
Almost all the supporting characters are shortchanged by the story. Rose has a sister, a boss, a fiancé, a psychiatrist, and an ex who is a cop. Those one-word descriptors are roughly as many layers as Smile provides them. They only exist as tropes for Rose to interact with either for exposition or to further the action along. This isn’t necessarily a criticism. At its core this is a personal movie where only the actions and motivations of Rose matter to the story.
The problem, if there is one, is that the nature of these ancillary archetypes having so little personal autonomy could have been an interesting viewpoint for the movie to take. For a film so focused on mental health, a discussion about the way we break people down to a basic persona and the function they provide to us could have provided a compelling take.
Scare Value
If you’re looking for a movie that will make you clench up in your theater seat this October, you could do worse than Smile. Lead by a sterling lead performance from Sosie Bacon and enough frights to fill its somewhat bloated run time, Smile delivers a lot of what people are looking for during the spooky season. A more layered and complex discussion of trauma makes up for the areas where the movie falls short. An overall solid entry into the cursed horror subgenre.
3/5
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