Surprisingly funny and glitzy, Smile 2 continues the franchise’s exploration of how trauma haunts us
Image provided by Paramount Pictures
Trigger Warning: This review and the film it discusses deal with the idea of suicidal ideation.
It has been an incredible year for horror, to put it mildly. It has been especially exciting to see new voices rising to create a vision of the future of the genre. So it is easy to say that the stakes that the second entry in the Smile franchise, from writer-director Parker Finn, feel particularly high. Just two years ago, it was the up and coming horror brand that caught people off guard, in no small part to a well-played viral campaign and a straight down the middle premise. Now it has to establish its place in the horror landscape against stiff competition.
Thankfully, on almost every level Smile 2 surpasses its predecessor. This is partially due to Finn maturing as a stylist and filmmaker, meaning that his use of playful spatial awareness and framing creates a stylish upgrade to the slightly grimier predecessor. His script also injects some much needed humor, helping alleviate some of the more nihilistic elements of the original. But most importantly, Smile 2 adds surprising depth to the already potent metaphor of the franchise. What was original parable about the ways that trauma follows and haunts us transforms into a broader exploration of depression, isolation and the terrifying influence of suicidal ideation.
The film picks up one week after the first Smile but wisely, after a thrilling opening scene that bridges the two, more or less is a stand alone story. This time the terror centers around Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a pop star who is launching a new tour after being out of the spotlight for over a year following a fatal car crash that killed her boyfriend and left her severely injured. After publicly admitting to struggles with addiction, she is attempting to rehabilitate her career.
This gets derailed however after she witnesses the grisly suicide of her friend/drug dealer Lewis (Lukas Gage). Shaken by this event, her grip on reality soon starts to unravel, as she sees mysterious disturbing images, typically including people with unsettling, unwavering smiles. This all escalates in a way that will be familiar with anyone who saw the first film, but with plenty of surprising twists along the ride.
For anyone who has seen the first Smile, there will be a fair amount of clarity about what is going on from the beginning. For those that haven’t, however, the film luckily gives a reminder of the broader mythology that was revealed in the first film. In the name of avoiding revealing any major points here, suffice to say that much of what haunts Skye is less about a malevolent force that causes physical harm but much more psychological trauma and deep emotional pain. Put bluntly, the menace at the center of Smile 2 is suicidal ideation as a form of possession. Skye is hounded by a sense of inferiority and lack of worth, egging her on to end her life, as she struggles to assert her own sense of self-worth.
The remarkable thing however is that while Smile 2 digs deep into these themes, it also consistently has a lighter touch than its moody but sometimes oppressively dire previous entry. It has explicit jokes and moments of levity that allow the darker elements to breathe and punch that much harder. I have been critical in the past of films that trivialize or even romanticize suicide, but that is not Smile 2’s prerogative by infusing more laughs into the proceedings. Rather it draws that dark contrast, that the mockable absurdity of the world is part of the curse of deep depression.
But make no mistake, at the center of the film is depression as a beast, an unknowable monster that lurks around every corner and is ready to pop up, despite when everything is going your way. Smile 2’s ability to present an unambiguously luxurious life for Skye underlines just how the monster lurks everywhere, in any circumstance, no matter how glamorous it may appear on the outside.
Perhaps the biggest surprise about Smile 2 is just how gorgeous it is. Finn clearly is experimenting and playing with more striking visuals to ground his horror, and playing with a wider sense of space than the previous film, making the earlier film feel drab and claustrophobic by comparison. With it’s glitz and unapologetic pop sensibilities, it asserts itself as more of a sensory delight, even as it delves into its darker content.
Similar to the first Smile, there are still some issues around pacing and an occasional over reliance on jump scares, especially as Skye’s descent into madness accelerates. However, the ending of the film, which incorporates a fair amount of twists to untangle, sticks the landing so well that it is easy to forgive a bit of sagging in the center. The implications of the final moments will excite fans of the first films, and suggests a franchise that is far from running out of ways to explore undeniably thorny subject matter.
And that is something to smile about.
