Smile 2

Starring: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Ray Nicholson, Dylan Gelula, Raúl Castillo, Kyle Gallner

Director: Parker Finn

One year after a horrific car wreck that left her injured and her boyfriend Paul (Nicholson) dead, global pop star and recovering addict Skye Riley (Scott) is ready to reemerge into the spotlight and embark on her comeback tour. After hurting her back rehearsing she visits her friend Lewis (Gage) to get some Vicodin. However, she finds him drugged up, troubled and paranoid. After a menacing smile suddenly creeps across his face, he unexpectedly kills himself in front of her. As Skye tries to move past what happened and continue with her comeback, she finds herself hallucinating people with the same creepy smile on their faces. As the hallucinations get worse, Skye discovers a presence has attached itself to her and is haunting her because of her past trauma. Skye realizes in order for her to move on and get rid of the presence she must reconcile with her past.

Sequels are a tricky thing to pull off, as the original will always stand as the best to most. However, there are a few exceptions: many would argue that Aliens is better than Alien.

Director Parker Finn struck lighting in a bottle with Smile in 2022, with it being one of the breakout horror hits of the year and having an ingenious viral marketing campaign. I was in the minority and wasn't a huge fan of the first film, despite it having the unique idea of a trauma demon. I did rewatch it before going to see this sequel, which was great because it set up one of the better horror movie openings I've seen in a while.

As I said I wasn't a big fan of the first film but I will give Parker Finn credit where credit is due. I did like this sequel better. While I think it did ultimately fall into using the same tricks and story devices as the first, this had a stronger lead performance and some good moments that had me on the edge of my seat. One such moment, where Skye is being tormented by the demon in the form of her back-up dancers is one of the best sequences of the year. This includes non-horror films. Yep, you read that right. Parker Finn even manages to conjure up some genuine jump scares that are effective even if you see them coming.

What this one also has going for it is an incredibly strong performance by Naomi Scott. Performances in horror films are often written off but this is her best role to date. While she is mostly known for her roles in Power Rangers, the Charlie's Angels remake or the live-action Aladdin, she gets a meaty role to sink her teeth into. A scene late in the film with her mother, played by the always great Rosemarie DeWitt, is tense and thanks to Scott very emotional. Skye also makes believable decisions, keeping her descent into madness feel genuine and real.

Unfortunately as I said, this falls into a mold of basically following the same story beats as the first. Without going into too much detail, those who know the tricks the demon pulls in the first movie should see where the story is ultimately headed. And while it ended on an intriguing idea, I don't know if I have the patience to sit through many more of these films if they keep ending the same way.

In the end, its a better entry in the franchise but I can see it wearing thin if the franchise keeps going on for much longer

Grade: B-