American Filmmaker, Parker Finn released his second full-length feature film, “Smile 2,” on Oct. 18. “Smile 2” is a sequel to “Smile” which came out in 2022, and was adapted from the short film “Laura Hasn’t Slept.”
“Smile 2” follows Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a Grammy-winning pop star on her comeback tour following her highly publicized battle with substance abuse. Skye tries to continue preparation for her tour but begins experiencing physical and auditory hallucinations after witnessing the death of her drug dealer, Lewis (Lukas Gage).
The sequel follows a very similar premise to the original but expands the stakes of the film to a much larger scale. Additionally, “Smile 2” elaborates on the lore behind the smile curse, which adds more complexity to the film but occasionally stumbles in its execution. At times, the explanations given to the audience feel slightly convoluted and can detract from the simpler horror of the unknown that worked so well for the first film. However, the deeper dive into the curse was still intriguing and expanded the mythos of the first movie in a way that opened a lot of doors for potential new films in the franchise.
One of the most interesting parts of the movie is how Finn plays with the protagonist’s unreliable perspective to blur the line between reality and illusion. Much like the first film, where the main protagonists’ grip on reality becomes increasingly questionable, the sequel continues to blur the lines between what is real and what is imagined, leaving the audience – and the protagonist – constantly doubting the truth of their experience. “Smile 2” depicts Skye’s descent into paranoia in a way that is extremely engaging by making the audience experience her fear and uncertainty firsthand.
Much like the first film, “Smile 2” is dependent on a lot of jump scares, however, there are a few moments that are genuinely terrifying and tense that even without the jump scares, it would still make for a very horrifying movie. One thing “Smile 2” did better than its predecessor was explore the psychological toll the curse takes on its victims.
Overall, “Smile 2” is a strong follow-up to the original and a very enjoyable watch.
Rating: 8.5/10
