Following the commercial and, surprisingly, critical success of Smile, writer-director Parker Finn continues the saga right where we left off in Smile 2.
Smile 2 opens with Joel (Kyle Gallner), who we last saw getting the curse passed to him, nearing the end and trying to use a loophole introduced in the first film to escape the curse. He plans to murder one half of a criminal sibling duo in front of the other, thus passing it off to less innocent parties. When it goes wrong, both siblings die, and the curse passes to Lewis (Lukas Gage) since he witnesses the murders. Joel is freed from the curse, but not before gruesomely dying by getting hit by a car on his way out.
This opening was the jolt we needed to kickstart our expectations for this sequel. It takes this concept to a completely different level with fresh energy—the exact balance I feel was necessary with the Smile films. Although it deals with themes of grief, PTSD, and mental illness, the concept comes across as silly if it takes itself too seriously.
We meet Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) at the start of her comeback, after recovering from a car accident that killed her actor boyfriend Paul Hudson (Ray Nicholson) and a battle with mental health struggles combined with heavy substance use. She’s “sober”- but takes Valium for lingering pains after the accident. Lewis is her dealer, and he passed the curse to her as she tried to pick up. This kill is unwaveringly gruesome. It’s a slow descent with visuals and sound design that will make your skin crawl. From the opening and this, I knew I would enjoy this one a lot more.
There’s pressure coming from her fans, the label, and her mother. She’s still haunted by the accident; everyone around her is on her payroll, and to top it all off, the curse is taking her over day by day. In the first film, Rose looks crazy to her whole family, but here, Skye is being watched by the entire world.
This idea of the dark side of fame and surveillance and people waiting (and hoping) to see successful women fail has rang true since the idea of the celebrity was born. But, when this film was in pre-production, Finn and the team had no idea it would resonate even harder in 2024. The examples are endless. If I listed each one, we’d be here all day. Between the public’s scrutiny of every move Chappell Roan makes, stan wars on Twitter, and the completely unwarranted internet hatred of Rachel Zegler and, in years past, Anne Hathaway and Britney Spears, it’s no secret that we hold these women to a standard that no human can possibly match. When it comes to Skye, she has made extremely public mistakes. They have already witnessed her break down before their eyes, so the curse is just fueling the fire for another, it’s not out of the ordinary.
Skye Riley is not just a pop star; she’s a phenomenon. Finn and the costume designer Alexis Forte, choreographer Celia Rowlson-Hall, and set dresser Vanessa Furnari did an incredible job of authentically portraying this through her glamorous outfits, intense choreography, and stage production. Including those elements to this extent was so essential and exceptionally well executed since there have been many attempts at this portrayal with half-baked results in the past. We get to live in Skye’s world, not just experience her decline. As the curse stays with you and learns more about your behaviors and life, it uses it to its advantage, and we see that in one of my favorite scenes in the film, in her apartment with her backup dancers taking her over. The way that was choreographed is unrelentingly spine-chilling.
It’s a side tangent, but so many people were talking about how this film was clearly sponsored by Voss water. I immediately disagreed that people found it egregious product placement because, even if it was sponsored, the way the water was used was highly intentional. Google Kim Kardashian or any other celebrity’s fridge (yes, fridge tours are the thing because our parasocial society hungers to know *every little detail* about the inner workings of a star’s life), and you’ll see something very similar with rows of Voss waters. The team authentically captured the portrayal of a modern pop star. It’s essential to highlight her semi-charmed life and show her status through the excess. It reeks of product placement to us, because none of us would have a Patrick Bateman-esque layout of our groceries like that. That’s the point. Later, in an interview with Perri Nemiroff, Finn confirmed that it wasn’t product placement. I’m just relishing the fact that I was right. But, I digress!
Another one of my favorite scenes is when we finally experience Skye and Paul’s accident in full. Scott and Nicholson turn out hauntingly electric performances as a coked-out arguing celebrity couple. It’s literally like a car crash, and we can’t look away. We know how this moment will end, but it holds out just enough that the journey to it had me on the edge of my seat. This is a turning point, where we more blatantly see the darker side of Skye and what she has done. It adds even more layers to the already complex character. Although very slightly alluded to, I connected with Skye and secretly hoped it wouldn’t be true, but it needed to be. Even after seeing it, I still ended up hoping that she would make it to the end. Scott’s performance as Skye can easily be one of the best of the year. She’s already lent herself to a few iconic roles, like Jasmine in Aladdin (2019)and a member of Charlie’s Angels, so it’s surprising that we haven’t seen her in much recently. Out of her filmography, I believe this is her star-making vehicle. She was able to show so much range and power on screen.
Finn exudes much more confidence and flair with this film. The first was impressive in many ways but lacked a certain je ne sais quoi (to me). I admired what the film presented, but it didn’t resonate with me as much as it did for others. I think this outing’s atmosphere is much scarier and less reliant on cheap jump scares. Jump scares are present but more effective, and the setup leads to a more impactful payoff. Even though Smile 2 is much more humorous than the first, the overall tone is well-balanced, making this one all the more eerie.
I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed Smile 2! Parker Finn showed off so much more of his flair as a filmmaker with this second outing. Paired with a really engaging screenplay with some humor and packed to the brim with dread, he navigated the usual Smile themes while injecting timeless pop-culture commentary. Given the ending, a third chapter would be ambitious, as it is a perfect place to close the story, but I’m eagerly awaiting to see what Finn does next.
From the idea of Smile, which began as a short and turned into a streaming film that ended up getting a theatrical release instead due to positive test screenings, to this sequel, Parker Finn has captured that rare, magical Hollywood story that we don’t see that often anymore. The gamble has undoubtedly paid off.
Rating: 8/10