Picking up 6 days after the bleak curtain call of Smile, the camera holds patiently on a quietly terrified Joel (Kyle Gallner). What ensues is a single take that is as close to a perfect opener as you’re likely to see. Parker Finn continues to impress, directing the camera through an ambitious sequence that ticks every box – beautifully composed cinematography, extreme violence, clearly managed narrative beats and one hell of a final shot that may as well spell out ‘buckle up’ in dismembered body parts because Smile 2 cranks the dials across the board.
As the title fades Finn focuses in on our central character, Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a Taylor Swift-esque popstar coming out of a rough year of rehab putting the final touches to her comeback tour. Her psychological state is far from stable (a truth known only to herself). On top of media scrutiny, obsessive fans and an oppressive tour-managing Mother. Skye is still hurting, both emotionally and physically, from her recent past. What better time to be possessed by a hallucination-inducing spirit? After soaking up the final scraps of sanity from Skye’s secret, pain-killer-supplying acquaintance, Lewis (Lukas Gage), the Smiling demon forces him to make use of a weight-lifting plate in a particularly nasty kill. Skye watches motionless as Lewis’s mangled face falls out of shot and the curse transfers itself to her…
What follows is a relentless onslaught of tension. Finn utilises reality-bending hallucinations to chip away at Skye’s mental state. As she spirals, the entity’s hold only grows tighter, manifesting in ever-creepier ways driving her to more extreme measures in her desperation to be freed from the terror. In a brutal and unforgiving second act full of inventive and inspired horrific imagery, Finn smoothly blends suspense with escalating horror and pushes Skye’s resilience to the limit, setting the stage for a high-stakes climax.
Where Smile 2 leaves something to be desired is in its heavy reliance on hallucinations to keep the audience guessing. In the original, this device was used sparingly and thus effective at rug-pulling the audience and subverting the anticipated punch-the-air moments. Unfortunately this time round, the frequent use of these sequences becomes excessive, diluting the film’s impact. Initially successful, the hallucinations soon pile up into an Inception-like stack, making it hard for viewers to distinguish between what’s real and what is the work of Skye’s grinning companion. This overindulgence cheapens the suspense, as the continuous “gotcha” moments begin to feel like empty tricks rather than organic plot devices and the story becomes muddied in the process.
The film’s shining light however is in the performance of Naomi Scott. Scott handles the physical and emotional demands of the role with authenticity, grounding the character’s fear and anguish in ways that elevate the horror experience. Her ability to convey raw vulnerability, especially as her character’s perception of reality fractures, make each of her reactions feel genuine and visceral. Her commitment to the role is absolute and Finn makes full use of that, pushing her character through intense psychological and physical trials that Scott herself said were exhausting to shoot.
Verdict: Scott and her interaction with the cast around her add depth to a horror experience that feels both visually striking and emotionally potent. While some elements may be unrestrained or slightly chaotic, the performances, especially Scott’s, help Smile 2 stand out as a chilling horror sequel that does a good job in exploring and conveying its central themes of grief and fear.