Smile 2 (2024)

Smile-2-(2024)
Smile 2 (2024)

Smile 2

This year has surely brought in its fair share of dubious sequels, sequel films like “Inside Out 2” and “Terrifier 3” have been called nothing more than a cut and paste of their predecessor. (I bet you did not expect the names of Art and Joy to be together. You are welcome.) One of a few things that works about Parker Finn’s “Smile 2” is that it belongs to that small group of sequels that actually attempt to build on the concepts of the first film rather than simply repeating them. Whereas that film embedded itself within a profile of horror that sought to incorporate mental illness as a paranormal effect, Finn seems to expand the scope to include self loathing, substance abuse, and even the existence of pop idols in his striking sequel. One thing it for sure has in common is a remarkable central lead. Sosie Bacon was the MVP in the first “Smile”, while in the striking follow-up to “Smile”, Naomi Scott is great who is emotionally and physically tortured for two hours throughout the film. Like in the style of a pop figure.

As with the obvious cue from ‘It Follows,’ the sequel ‘Smile 2’ similarly considers the notion of a person rather a place being possessed. The audience is re-acquainted with the character of Joel, Kyle Gallner, who snuffs out the last survivor from his clan where he subsequently gets hold of a drug dealer who he decides to sow his seeds of curse upon in an enigmatic and carefully choreographed violent sequence. Lewis (Lukas Gage) who appears uninvited is exposed to the scene of slaughter and what can be described only as a parasite: a thing that draws its powers from your own weakness and past emotions which are not altogether pleasant and throws horrifying images at you, including the likes of people you know and care about, smiling and engaged in the most hideous acts.

It isn’t long before Lewis completely wrecks his face in front of distressed pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) who is seeking a musical comeback. This is after she spends a year recuperating from a car accident that led to the untimely demise of her boy friend Paul. However, in haunted memories and flashbacks, Paul, who else would be cast in such a role in this film, is Ray Nicholson, who differentiates himself by having that perfect malevolent smile that Jack Nicholson was famous for, and which purportedly inspired this flick. You recognize the look.

Skye now free of addiction and grief, struggles against her own “Smile Creature” an entity that feeds on her insecurities and weaknesses and pushes her toward madness. Her mom and manager Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt), her assistant Josh (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) and the record company head Darius (Raul Castillo) are all prepared for her comeback, but unfortunately, her mental illness and deteriorating mental condition affect her performance considerably. She tries to bring an estranged friend Gemma (Dylan Gelula) back into her life, someone who she hopes will help her, but this is just one strategy of Smile 2 which is not only a story about sympathy but about horror and unrelenting faith. To be slowly fractured to the point where one cannot imagine, to being broken and tortured through mental means that defy comprehension. Skye seems to be seeing things that aren’t there. She thinks a violent naked fan has come into her flat, and later that she sees the dead Paul in a crowd during a charity event. Skye watches the process of disintegration of the physical world in front of her.

This is quite a controversial and steep role for an actress and Scott is really good and she sells the horror and fear that has come to define Skye’s existence. Finn has high expectations of his primary actress, who goes through many mental and physical challenges, and it is important for Scott to stabilize at each peak of tension. We know what’s going on around her because we are convinced that she is horrified by what’s going on and thus the belief is somewhat right. The excellent sound design is terrible but worst case she is the one who gets it right in this movie.

In all fairness, some of the plot ideas in “Smile 2,” such as how pop stars become the using the properties of their fans, and how many are told to suppress their suffering and just smile, go a little astray, however, a couple of them are still present in the core of the work, and might be considered sufficient to help it cross the finish line. A sequel to a horror movie doesn’t need to last more than two hours, but it is perhaps more down to the fact that Finn has an abundance of different paths he wants to take to develop his idea, rather than it being excessive or too drawn out. I was never bored, and there are some truly stellar sequences here, especially one that could be titled “Smile Dancers” this is one of the finest, if not the finest, innovations and realisations in the genre this year.

I don’t generally like movies that use mental issues as a cutting plot device (I didn’t like ‘Lights Out,’ for example), and for that reason, what is most amazed about those films are the ways in which Finn escapes such misleading traps and concentrate so much on the emotional reality of his heroines. Yes, there are a few too many jump scares, and at least one too many twists, but all of those are easily forgiven considering what is the real horror that can be found in Naomi Scott’s depictions. Finn adores profiles, angry ones, and petrified ones. More even than after the first film, I am curious as to what he will do next and, quite confidently, it will not be a continuation of the previous endeavor.

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