About to embark on a world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and the pressures of fame, Skye is forced to face her past.
Chuck says:
Eschewing the notion that less is more with a vengeance, Parker Finn’s “Smile 2,” is everything his surprise 2022 hit was not. Loud, bloated, and gratuitous, the sequel stumbles into the trap so many films of its kind fall victim to. What made “Smile” one of the best horror entries of the last decade was its intimate examination of one character’s battle with depression and denial. It worked because its narrative was focused, its theme timely and it treated its subject with the respect it deserved.
To his credit, Finn continues to put issues of mental health at the forefront in the follow-up, the devastating toll of fame as well as the effects of paranoia, the theme. Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is a pop star who has withered in the spotlight, substance abuse having led to car accident that killed her boyfriend (Ray Nicholson) and put her own life in jeopardy.
However, she’s on the comeback trail, doing the talk show circuit to humble herself in front of her fans and ask forgiveness, mounting an extensive concert tour as well. Her mental state is tenuous, while the pain from her previous injuries is recurring, so much so, she visits her former dealer Lewis (Lukas Gage). This is when things go horribly awry, as he passes on a demonic entity that feeds on anxiety and fear. It gains strength by causing the host to hallucinate violent, stressful episodes, only seen by that person.
It’s an intriguing premise, one used to great effect in the first film, but which is overdone this time around. The visions Riley is subjected to increase in their violence and explicitness to the point until they become a hindrance to the story. These sequences go on far too long but worse, they increase in frequency. Clocking in at over two hours, Finn shoots himself in the foot by belaboring this conceit, putting his heroine through the ringer so often that it slows the film to a snail’s pace. Obviously, this is counterintuitive where building suspense is concerned, impatience setting in long before the ridiculous climax takes place.
That being said, the film has its moments, its opening scene being a highlight. A single-take shot follows former police officer Joel (Kyle Gallner), the only character to return from part one, as he enters a crack house to pass on the curse he’s carrying to a pair of lowlifes. This goes horribly wrong, Finn’s handheld capture putting the viewer in the middle of a suddenly violent moment exacerbated by Joel’s urgency to escape. The director puts us in his footsteps each step of the way until a shocking conclusion that proves to be the movie’s most inventive and scariest moment. If only the rest had followed suit…
Special mention must be made of Scott, who is incredible as the troubled young woman, desperately trying to salvage her life and sanity. On edge throughout, her descent into madness is palpable, our sympathy with her from the first moment to the last. Akin to Florence Pugh’s work in “Midsommar” and Toni Collette’s turn in “Hereditary,” it is a fully committed performance that goes so far as to elicit concern for the actress.
It’s obvious Finn has plans of making “Smile” into a franchise, what with the audacious ending to “2.” Here’s hoping he rights the ship to focus on the need for mental health awareness and treatment rather than pandering to the gorehounds in the audience. He’s proven he can make a thoughtful, meaning horror film, more of which are needed in the sea of dross that floods the genre.
2 Stars
