Parker Finn’s psychological horror “Smile 2” improved on its predecessor through its characters and performances but doesn’t improve the story.
The sequel is set a week after the events of “Smile” (2022) and follows the pop star Skye Riley’s (Naomi Scott) return to the spotlight after a one-year hiatus caused by a car accident that killed her boyfriend and left her with chronic pain.
To be in top shape to perform for her fans, Riley needs pain medication that no doctor would prescribe her due to her history with substance abuse.
Riley goes to drug dealer Lewis Fregoli’s (Lukas Gage) apartment to buy Vicodin and witnesses his strange behavior that ended in Fregoli killing himself right in front of her. The Smile Entity’s curse is passed to her, and she spends the rest of the film trying to break the curse.
The film’s strongest aspect is in Scott’s standout performance as the erratic Riley. She finally unlocks her full potential in the intensity and complexity of Riley’s psyche as an almost Lady-Gaga-like figure fighting her own inner disgust for the music business for fame and success.
The film’s first half was a thrilling ride of beautiful aerial shots of New York City and quick camera zooms. Finn’s directing has matured in his second feature but still showed motifs of upside-down shots and Dutch angles that furthered the uneasy atmosphere of the film.
The second half is when the film overstays its welcome. The jump-scares scored by dissonant, unsettling string instruments lose their edge by the hour-and-a-half mark. While it is one of the better examples of this style of horror in recent memory, it would have worked better if the film didn’t use this so often.
These were all problems found in the first film, but they weren’t as obvious since it had the element of surprise on their side, especially about the Smile Entity’s form.
Returning fans already knew about the Smile Entity’s form but the film had to show the creature for new viewers.
However, in the sequel, it just looked underwhelmingly like a Thanksgiving ham you would see in a commercial.
What made “Smile” good was its originality and sense of mystery regarding what was causing the bizarre events surrounding the ones cursed by the Smile Entity. A lot of the film was spent exploring lore and the final encounter advanced the lore while opening doors for sequels.
Yet the sequel didn’t actually do anything new for the story.
“Smile 2” felt too much like a rehash of the first film with a prettier setting. If this were the first film, it would have been a stronger start to the franchise thanks to Scott’s performance. But as a sequel, it didn’t do anything.
