It’s easy to imagine a sequel Smile. Slightly coarser, louder and more interested in lore than fear, squeezing whatever juice remained in the watered-down version of the original from those A24 trauma creepers. Writer-director Parker Finn crafted an enjoyable, if grating, take on better films with Kubrick-lite compositions to liven up the COVID-constrained production, keeping the cast to a minimum and focusing on framing. The film’s stilted style was too involved in its influences, but there were serviceable scares and a straightforward conceit: Ring rules: once you see the Smile, you have seven days to live.

Finns Smile 2 opens in a familiar location. Back inside SmileIn the chilly suburbs of New Jersey, Officer Joel (Kyle Gallner) spends the sixth day of his Smile journey in his car. Finn doesn’t allow us to settle back into his universe; the camera comes to life and in a rotating one-shot it is even more so Raid than (INTAKE)it follows Joel through the dilapidated house of a drug dealer. Before we can even understand how Smile 2 ties in with the original or whatever genre this movie is, the blood starts to flow and the grins start to stretch.

Finn’s screenplay deviates and sometimes avoids common sequel errors, meeting our expectations before subverting them with style and humor. Anchored by a moving and intensely committed performance from Naomi Scott – possessed by the sweaty, snotty spirit of Possessions Isabelle Adjani—Smile 2 never forget the pain behind every grin.

Scott plays Skye Riley, a pop star on the rebound. A year after her boyfriend (Ray Nicholson, blessed with his father Jack’s grin) died in a car accident, her career went into a tailspin and she herself found herself in rehab, Skye organizes a comeback tour that finds her causes addiction. Desperate for painkillers, Skye turns to an old dealer, Lewis (Lukas Gage), who is nearing the end of his battle with Smile and wants to pass it on.

The first few scenes illustrate the diversity in Smile 2‘s script. The film moves from Joel’s gangster shootout to an interview with Drew Barrymore and Skye’s dance rehearsal, showing the different forms of tension. Much of the film’s disorientation is built around Skye’s schedule, which puts her in situations where she’s surrounded by strangers and expected to flash her pearly whites. Scott’s physical achievements make it clear how exhausting it is to be a pop star with Smile Disease. Skye puffs VOSS, sweats and beats herself to a pulp, but it’s nothing compared to one of the film’s early deaths, where a face is tenderized into a broken patty of bone, flesh and teeth.

Firmly in her Reputation In this day and age, no one hides their pain behind a smile more than Skye. Dragged along by her manager mother (Rosemarie DeWitt) and casually abused assistant (Miles Gutierrez-Riley), Skye moves from meet-and-greets with smiling fans to fundraisers with wealthy donors to the makeup chair and stadium stage without a break. allowing Scott to play different sides of Skye’s panic, from cringing humiliation to Saw-like bloodshed. Even in the lushly mundane spaces she calls home, violent hallucinations and laughing figures haunt her. Casting simple shadows around her Upper West Side apartment, Finn creates an old-world atmosphere as his roving camera twists, turns and locks into Skye’s perspective with a modern flair.

Focusing on the gut-dragging bloodshed belies how much fun it is Smile 2 is. There’s whimsy and humor in the way Skye’s team responds to her mania. After a year of career suicide, people expect diva behavior from her and treat it as another part of the job, hoping to keep her happy and get the tour going. Her estranged friend Gemma (Dylan Gelula) provides a credible sounding board. The film’s humor breaks the tension (without deflating it) and makes room for more quirky and funny set pieces, like the breathtaking scene where Skye’s creepy-crawly backup dancers haunt her apartment with fashionable choreography.

With the crowds of screaming fans and backstage areas packed with photographers and producers, the film traps Skye before the smile even enters the picture. Smile 2 isn’t just about trauma, it’s about hiding it – and Skye’s world gives the film a strong justification for doing so. The second horror film about a pop star this year, Smile finds more to play with than M. Night Shyamalan’s Fallespecially in music. Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s dissonant score hangs over Skye’s Tate McCrae-penned jam ‘Grieve You’, adding an unsettling undertone to Skye’s radio-friendly pop. The backstage-musical-meets-supernatural-terror elements provide a All that jazz-inspired romp, giving Scott a more complicated character to play and, as the lines between performer and performance blur, a scarier character Black Swan song to sing.

Horror sequels often succumb to explanation and demystification, and before you know it In it, Michael Myers is controlled by a constellation. Smile 2 weaponizes these tropes and folds them into Skye’s journey without damaging the central idea. Yes, the varying quality of the supporting cast’s performances and the film’s somewhat bloated 127-minute running time may leave cheeks tense. But the film finds dark humor in transferring these desperate feelings of unease to a kaleidoscopic creature of pain and viscera. That’s something to smile at, if you dare to look at the screen.

Director: Parker Finn
Writer: Parker Finn
Starring: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo, Dylan Gelula, Ray Nicholson
Release date: October 18, 2024