Ah yes… the sweet smell of the sophomore slump (was what nine out of ten reviews for sequels would normally start with), but alas not today and not for newly crowned prince of terror Parker Finn.
(Mild Spoiler Warning)
The highly anticipated sequel to Smile, is finally out in cinemas and so far has been met with praise from both critics and punters alike.
Whilst not objectively perfect by any means, it brims with great performances, is clearly backed by solid directing and some good scares which tie it all together.
Smile 1 introduces the lore very well, with an enthralling story and an amazing lead character, played by Sosie Bacon (yes she’s Kevin’s daughter y’all) showing the stress, the pain and fear of the protagonist Rose Cotter.
After the whole struggle and unending complications that make up the film, we’re left with an almost unbelievable cliffhanger ending, so audiences couldn’t wait for a continuation of the story.
Sure, it’s basically the same plot as the original but unlike countless genre films we quickly ignore the fact that we know where it’s going because well, it’s a bloody great film.
It’s entertaining and genuinely pretty scary at times and in short is everything we loved about Smile but done better.
The original feature film was in fact the directorial debut from Parker Finn, and the sequel is him really showing off his skills as a director, with an almost flashy one take opening scene, to uneasy and suspenseful sequences further in.
Without too many spoilers a brief summary of the film follows Skye Riley (a famous singer about to start a world tour) played by singer / actress Naomi Scott.
This no-so–far-stretch soon pushes her into horror territory when our friendly neighbourhood Smile Demon decides to hitch a ride. Can you guess what’s coming next?
The film brings us suspenseful long scenes paired with some amazing editing, gushing brutal sound effects and some top tier visuals, whether that be the gore or the amazing cinematography consistent throughout the whole film.
It’s among this new(ish) wave of very high quality, original horror films with the likes of ‘A Quiet Place’ directed by John Krasinski, or ‘Hereditary’ directed by Ari Aster, and of course the Jordan Peele dynasty, bringing horror to the modern cinema.
The only complaint realistically throughout the movie would be near the end when the ‘demon’ reveal occurs and it seems that poor Mr. Finn had maxed out his Amex leaving us with a rather jarring CGI moment reminiscent of PS3 at it’s worst. Although that’s hardly anything to complain about when everything else about the film was so unbelievably well made.
We love horror, we love solid lore and love the downfall of a good protagonist. Smile 2 delivers all three in spades!
