Directed by Parker Finn — Screenplay by Parker Finn.
Set only days after the events of the original film, Parker Finn’s Smile 2 follows Skye Riley (played by Naomi Scottt), a genuine pop star, who is trying to improve her image as she prepares to go on tour following a very public struggle with rehabilitation from substance abuse and the traumatic car crash that she was in, which took the life of her boyfriend (played by Ray Nicholson) and which she is still in pain from. She is constantly supervised by her mother (played by Rosemarie DeWitt) and her team of assistants, and so, because of her history with substance abuse, when she needs painkillers from an injury she sustained, she feels compelled to do it behind their backs. However, when she secretly visits an acquaintance who also happens to be a drug dealer (played by Lukas Gage), everything goes wrong, as he is clearly troubled and he goes on to brutally kill himself whilst brandishing a disturbing smile. Desperate to cover her tracks, she rushes out and refuses to mention what she witnessed to anyone, but what she becomes gradually more and more aware of is that something was passed to her, and soon she starts to witness crazy things from people smiling creepily.
Despite the fact that the first film — Parker Finn’s feature directorial debut, which was based on his short film Laura Hasn’t Slept — received a mostly positive response from horror fans and critics, I actually put off watching it for quite some time. I didn’t see it until earlier this year. What can I say? I think, honestly, that the creepy smiles brought back negative memories of the goofy digitally altered smiles from Jeff Wadlow’s Truth or Dare, which I really disliked. Although that first film is definitely better than the aforementioned Wadlow film, I must admit that I was slightly underwhelmed by the first Smile. Though perfectly competent, it didn’t feel as remarkable as the positive word-of-mouth, so it didn’t fully meet my expectations.
Still, though, I was really excited for this sequel because, at least to me, this film had a really appealing concept. To take the sequel and make it a film about the struggle of being a public-facing figure going through trauma and rehab now suddenly thrown into a maddening horror movie scenario felt novel or, at the very least, really inventive and like it had strong potential. Thankfully, writer-director Parker Finn fully delivers, as his sequel is not only more interesting and original than his first film, it is also vastly superior, and the film showcases Finn’s talent as a filmmaker in the horror genre, who it would be interesting to see take a stab at other genres in the future as well.
The sequel features a really strong hand-off from the first film which is pulled off with a sense of style through an intense sequence presented as a long take that is really effective. There are fun transitions and match cuts, impressive camerawork, and, honestly, some really excellent scare choreography. Finn’s execution of his genius sequel concept is really satisfying, as he gets the most out of the celebrity struggle with scenes that are frightening or that make you squirm. There are strong ideas executed well with regard to the fan experience, the confrontation of your former self in rehabilitation, the entourage, backup dancers, and the performative aspect.
That said, you can imagine that all of those elements could’ve fallen apart if you didn’t believe that the performer in the central role, the frightened celebrity at the center of the narrative, could actually be a pop star. Thankfully, they hired Naomi Scott, who is not only a convincing star, dancer, and singer (the songs are also really good), but she also brings it all together to deliver a fully formed, star-making, and utterly engrossing scream queen pop star performance. She gives herself over fully to the material and delivers the kind of stellar, intense horror performance that will be remembered as one of the year’s best and most memorable, despite probably not making a lot of waves with awards bodies given horror movie performances only rarely getting the credit they deserve. Like Toni Collette and Lupita Nyong’o before her, she gives an awards-worthy horror movie performance.
Smile 2, Parker Finn’s psychological horror sequel, is one of the best major studio horror releases of the year largely thanks to Parker Finn’s inventiveness and Naomi Scott’s performance. It does have its issues, though. It is a little bit too long, and the final act muddies our sense of reality a little bit too much. But the note that it ends on, though slightly predictable, is really effective and is pretty much the perfect way for this type of narrative to come to a close. It’ll be very interesting to see what Finn and Scott do next.
7.9 out of 10
– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 