Horror film Smile 2 debuts

After not really expecting too much with “Smile,” it proved a pleasant surprise. It was hardly revolutionary, but Parker Finn’s creative filmmaking choices and the great concept proved to keep audiences interested. It was almost as if Finn had seen the odious “Truth or Dare,” which had a similar concept to this one, turned to his buddy in the theater, and said, “Heh, I could do better.” Aside from some awkward dialogue here and there, it’s safe to say he did.

“Smile 2” is the awaited follow up to the first film after it got warm reviews from critics, with even some critics saying that it was an improvement to the first film. Was it? In some ways. It’s certainly larger in scope than the first film, as it deals with a pop singer trying to go on a comeback tour after recovering from a deeply traumatic incident from her past. Also, it’s clear that there was a bigger budget this time, so Finn and crew had a lot more they could do with the visual effects.  

Smile 2 was another surprisingly well-crafted horror film. Finn has an eye for creating a creepy atmosphere. While he uses some horror gimmicks such as jump scares, he never uses them cheaply, and they are mostly effective. He’s also gifted at making you question what is going on without losing the threads of the story (at least for the most part) and putting you into the headspace of someone who is a victim of the titular creature. 

Helping with that is the great cinematography from returning Charlie Sarroff and the music from Cristobal Tapia de Veer, which creates an ominous, often unsettling atmosphere, where there’s nothing you can do to stop ‘The Entity’ as it’s called in the films. 

But it is truly Naomi Scott’s performance as pop star Skye Riley that steals the show here. There’s an undercurrent of pain and vulnerability in Scott’s performance and it’s clear even before she becomes The Entity’s next victim that she’s just barely holding on.

As the film gets even more surreal, we see Skye’s mental state erode as her past demons catch up to her and Scott conveys this excellently through her frazzled performance. She also performed the songs her character sang and conducted much of the dance choreography herself, making her character feel like an authentic pop singer. 

While there are many things to praise, there were also some drawbacks that kept this film from truly reaching its potential. 

Some themes in “Smile 2” aren’t as fully developed as they could be. Skye’s mental health crisis recalls themes of the cost of fame and how trauma can disrupt your life, but the themes weren’t conveyed as cohesively as they were in the first film. There were also potential plot points about stopping the Entity that were brought up and then were discarded completely once the third act came into play. It just felt like more of the same, in terms of what the first film explored. It would have been nice to see a different ending to the film than the one we got. 

Overall, “Smile 2” is another solid horror film crafted by Finn and co.