Parker Finn refuses to take the safest, most obvious path in Smile 2, the follow-up to his 2022 hit film. Adhering to the time-honored tradition of going bigger and harder for the horror sequel, Smile 2 declares itself a far more ruthless and intense journey from its opening sequence, a shockingly violent re-introduction into this bleak world. It’s not just the sequel’s razor-sharp and inventive, gory scares that surpass its predecessor, but a profoundly complicated heroine shaping the edgier style of horror.
Smile 2 picks up days after the first film’s events, tracking the curse’s path to world-famous pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) just as she’s preparing to launch her new global tour. Two things become immediately clear: the entity seems much more savage this round, and Skye is a deeply flawed and fragile character. This tour has a lot riding on it, not just for the jobs and money dependent upon its success, but also in that it’s supposed to be Skye’s major comeback one year after a traumatic car crash that prompted Skye’s trip to rehab and left her boyfriend dead. That she’s still healing from the event, physically and mentally, only compounds the immense pressure she’s under. Then she witnesses the brutal suicide of her former drug dealer (Lukas Gage), whose creepy smile moments before bashing his own face signals the start of a whole new set of nightmarish problems for the pop star.
Naomi Scott stars in Paramount Pictures Presents A Temple Hill Production A Parker Finn FIlm “SMILE 2”
Not that Finn ever shied away from violence in Smile, but the gloves are off in this sequel. The inciting event that passes the curse to Skye is unflinching and graphic, a mass of flesh and bone and squelchy sounds. It’s not even the first burst of violence in the sequel to get the blood pumping. While it makes for satisfying, cringe-worthy horror sequences, what impresses most is the way Finn organically escalates the violence and the nail-biting scares through his lead character.
The entity’s more ruthless method of psychological warfare here is tied to Skye’s psychological state, worming its way further into her brain to use her insecurities, anxieties, and deepest fears against her. Unlike Smile‘s Rose Cotter, a therapist with distant trauma and tools to navigate her mental state, Skye is ill-equipped to fight back. Worse, her cool pop star exterior masks a deeply flawed, tumultuous interior coping with years of deep-seated issues. It’s not just the car crash that informs her trauma, but the fractured relationship with her overbearing mom-turned-manager (Rosemarie DeWitt).
Skye is prone to making rash mistakes, and her checkered past leaves her with a few dark skeletons she’d rather leave buried. Finn’s complex writing of her and Scott’s fearless yet vulnerable portrayal of her is what makes Skye so compelling. Scott throws herself into the deep end of the role’s physical demands, which is a Herculean undertaking in a Smile movie. Skye toggles between grueling dance rehearsals by day while evading vicious attacks at night that leave her in snot-nosed hysterics. It’s a non-stop marathon before the horror anguish takes root.
Finn is much a more confident and assured filmmaker here, injecting a more pronounced sense of humor and personality when not scaring the pants off his audience. It’s in the thought and care he’s given to his pop star protagonist and in the impressive production design that expands the film’s scale in visually arresting and immersive ways. It turns out an affluent, world-renowned pop star comes armed with bold, dramatic penthouse suites and gorgeous arena stages to mine new fear tactics from.
It’s only when beholden to some of Smile‘s rules that this sequel falters. It makes it easier to predict certain story elements, even if thematically fitting. It’s offset by Finn’s dedicated ambition to going bigger, bolder, and scarier right down to a showstopper finale. Special effects legend Alec Gillis and his crew are back to bring especially inspired new twists to the entity’s machinations, culminating in a jaw-dropping climax that’s every bit as ambitious as it looks.
As someone who found the first film solid yet ultimately familiar in its influences, Smile 2 makes for one of the year’s biggest horror surprises. Scott delivers a career-defining performance, tackling so many layers to her character and with seemingly effortless ease. The scale is grander, and the scares are far more visceral and violent. But Finn’s mounting confidence and ingenuity are what’s most exciting; this filmmaker has only honed his scare-crafting chops to the sharpest of edges and is having a blast doing it. It makes for a satisfying thrill ride of jaw-dropping horror and unrelenting dread; a perfect Halloween treat for those in need of a good scare — or twenty.
Smile 2 opens wide in theaters on October 18, 2024.
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