Orlando A Jacome’figueroa
Contributing Writer
“Smile 2” will do everything but put a smile on your face.
The film immediately puts us back into its world of psychological horror, where we see Joel (played by Kyle Gallner) six days after the events of the first movie struggling to live with this eldritch toying and tormenting him before falling victim to the being.
After Joel passes the curse along to Lewis Fregoli (played by Lukas Gage) a drug dealer in New York City, Lewis then passes it to famous popstar Skye Riley (played by Naomi Scott). Soon after this Skye is tormented by hallucinations of smiling people who aren’t really there, events that never happened and an unsettling amount of gore and blood while she struggles to remain in control of her body and mind.
Director Parker Finn has proven himself yet again as a director who’s going to usher in a new era of horror movies. When most people think of horror movie sequels, they think of quick big studio production cash grabs that lack all of the substance and quality of the first movie with all of the cheesiness and poor acting that plagues the horror genre.
“Smile 2,” however, turns all of that on its head by being a worthy successor to the first movie and being cinematically beautiful.
Finn’s direction with the sequel builds upon what we know of this eldritch being from the first movie and turns it up to 11, the slow start to the film is a false sense of security for the downward spiral of psychological unease and gore the rest of the movie is going to put you through. Naomi Scott’s performance is outstanding, her portrayal of Skye Riley from the minute she hits the screen, screams something not okay with this character and as the movie continues we find out it’s more than just this curse that’s been haunting Skye’s life.
Visually, “Smile 2” comes out the gate swinging, whether it be the handheld shot we see at the start of the film when Joel tries to rid himself from his curse or the dolly shot that introduces Skye Riley through her interview. The movie doesn’t just stop there, when it comes to the gore of the film, it makes sure you’re along for the ride whether you like it or not, many times the film will slowly make you watch as someone disfigures themselves horribly as if the director is punishing you for enjoying a genre like horror and making you sit with your decision to go out and watch something like this.
“Smile 2” perfectly captures the neon dread of a pop star living in New York City as well, with dance performances and bar shots that look like they could be taken out of movies like “Blade Runner 2049”.
It is a psychological horror of a failed redemption arc. It’s the type of film you go into in high spirits but end up leaving worse for wear. It’s a must watch sequel that will leave horror enthusiasts and movie buffs rewatching it again to catch every red herring this film put the audience through.