Written by Astha Lakhankar
If you’ve had access to the internet over the past few months, you’ve likely seen the trailer for Parker Finn’s Smile 2 — probably because it’s been shoved in your face every time you even thought of clicking on a YouTube video. For what it’s worth, this presumably costly marketing scheme seems to be paying off, as the film netted $23 million in its opening weekend.
Smile 2 is the latest iteration of the “therapy couch thriller,” a subgenre that uses horror and intrigue to explore how people, often family, traumatize each other. The original Smile (2022) fits snugly into this category, following Rose Cutter (Sosie Bacon) as she is tormented by an enigmatic Smile Entity and forced to confront her traumatic childhood. Smile 2’s narrative structure mirrors its predecessor but expands the thematic arena from the personal to the public.
The film opens with Joel (Kyle Gallner, reprising his role from the first film) attempting to pass on the Smile Entity’s curse by killing a criminal wanted for murder in front of his accomplice. In what is probably the best sequence of the film, Joel stabs the criminal to death but also enters a shootout that kills the witness. Small-time drug dealer Lewis Fregoli (the already prolific Lukas Gage, a millennial John Carroll Lynch) walks in on the action and unwittingly inherits the curse.
It’s through Lewis that we are introduced to our sequel’s protagonist, Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a Lady Gaga meets Caroline Polachek pop star on the precipice of her comeback tour. One year ago, while struggling with substance abuse and under intense pressure, Skye was seriously injured in a car accident that also killed her actor boyfriend Paul (Ray Nicholson). Now sober and mostly recovered from her injuries, the singer has returned to the public eye to relaunch her career.
Still, anxiety and chronic pain continue to vex Skye, who reaches out to Lewis for Vicodin. During this drug run, Skye watches Lewis commit suicide at the behest of the Smile Entity and inherits its curse. The rest of the film is a rinse-and-repeat cycle of Skye experiencing a delusion, behaving erratically and then being told she needs to, “get it together for the tour.” While Smile 2’s cinematography and use of location (upside-down drone shot, anyone?) is initially exciting, this kaleidoscopic filmmaking quickly tires itself out as viewers question where exactly this is all going.
Sure, the film hints at in-universe lore or social commentary, but these plot points are barely developed and quickly discarded. Smile and Smile 2 base their horror on the supernatural manifestation of trauma. In the context of our pop star protagonist, public scrutiny, intense pressure and the expectations put on young female celebrities have traumatized her. While Smile 2 comes close to exploring these broader themes, it always pulls back to begin another choreographed horror sequence instead. In one scene, Skye hallucinates an aggressive fan invading her home. Instead of delving into how this incident, symptomatic of toxic fanbases, impacts Skye, Smile 2 uses it for a cheap scare and never mentions it afterward.
In another scene, Skye is confronted by her “momager” Elizabeth (a criminally underutilized Rosemarie Dewitt), a critical moment that would have given insight into the former’s experience with fame at a young age. But the scene is cut short by another delusion so the film can meet its blood and gore quota. Sometimes horror movies can just be horror movies and Smile 2 is under no obligation to probe social issues more directly than it does. But, perhaps, it would be more enjoyable if it did. If 2024 horror films like The Substance and Azrael have taught us anything, isn’t it that thematic subtlety is overrated? It’s not like Smile 2 held back on any other fronts.
Additionally, if Smile 2’s creators just wanted to focus on the horror, perhaps they could have shed some light on the origins of the Smile Entity and its curse. If the original Smile film hooked audiences with a terrifying concept, Smile 2 should give them the terrifying mechanics behind it. However, two movies into what looks to be a trilogy, and fans still don’t exactly know where the Smile Entity comes from or even its general mission statement. The sequel that was supposed to answer these questions ended up being two hours of Skye Riley enduring physical and emotional devastation with no end in sight.
By framing her torment as inevitable, Smile 2 disrespects viewers’ investment in Skye’s story — which is a real shame because Naomi Scott makes her such an interesting character to root for. Scott’s performance anchors the entire film. She plays Skye with the simultaneous tenderness and ferocity necessary for a character who thinks of herself as (and could very well be) a bad person but wants desperately to do better.
Ultimately, it’s this performance and the admittedly impressive production value that should tempt moviegoers to Smile 2. However, be warned that the most impressive shots in the movie are all in the trailer, so if you’ve seen that, it might do you well to just stay home and watch It Follows instead.
