Smile is a true rags-to-riches story of indie filmmaking. Parker Finn‘s short, Laura Hasn’t Slept, premiered at SXSW, where it won the Special Jury Award and caught the attention of Paramount. They developed it as a feature with the intention of going straight to streaming, but test screening reactions were so strong that they pivoted to a theatrical release. It went on to become the highest grossing horror film of the year with over $200 million worldwide.
The movie’s home video release includes an audio commentary by Finn (complete with commentary subtitles!), among other extras. The first-time filmmaker discusses his intentions behind several creative choices, from storytelling to camera movement.
Here are six things I learned from the Smile commentary….
1. Caitlin Stasey reprises her role from the short.
Laura, the PhD student that passes the curse to protagonist Rose Cotter early in the film, is played by Caitlin Stasey, who starred in Laura Hasn’t Slept (which is also included on the disc). While not a remake or a direct continuation, Finn designed it to be a parallel that “would go in a very different direction than the short.”
The experience that Laura describes also foreshadows everything that Rose will go through over the course of the movie. The entire scene – a complicated sequence with emotional performances, technical camerawork, and special effects – was shot in a single day.
2. The title drop had to be altered to avoid causing seizures.
The aforementioned Rose/Laura scene concludes with a complex shot that moves from Laura’s dead body to Rose before pushing into her pupil, culminating with the title flashing on screen accompanied by discordant music – occurring 13 minutes into the movie. “I personally love a delayed titled title drop in a film, and it felt like a perfect opportunity to pull one of these off,” notes Finn.
“I had always known I wanted to do something that was incredibly anxiety-inducing for the title drop,” he continues. It had to be recalibrated several times after discovering the original version failed the Harding test, meaning that it could trigger photosensitive people and potentially induce seizures. Finn is “very pleased with the end result.”
3. None of the smiles in the film are digitally enhanced.
All the creepy smiles throughout the film are entirely performance-based without any digital augmentation, as Finn smartly believed that keeping them natural would make them scarier.
“The studio asked early on whether or not we wanted to use visual effects to enhance the smiles,” he reveals. “But to me it was really important that they play as grounded. I thought they would be much creepier, honestly much more intense if it was just a human performance. And it also allowed us to get different nuances between all the different smiles that appear in the film, which I love.”
4. Smiles are hidden throughout the film
Finn and production designer Lester Cohen took joy in planting smiles throughout the film. The camera lingers on some – like the sign at the model train shop and the pain chart at the hospital – while others are more subtle. For example, Rose’s husband’s contact photo that shows up when they first text has a natural, closed-mouth smile then changes to a toothy grin when seen later in the film.
5. Rose’s “last chance” to survive is reflected in the production design
After discovering that she could save herself from the curse by killing someone else, Rose returns to her apartment. The camera angle reveals a piece of mail that says “Last Chance” beside the doorway. This was an intentional bit of production design to correspond with Rose’s ultimatum.
6. The monster was nicknamed Lollipop
The entity that takes people over, hauntingly revealed in the film’s final moments, was lovingly referred to as Lollipop by the cast and crew. This ties into The Chordettes’s “Lollipop” playing over the end credits, creating a tonal whiplash from the downer ending.
Smile is available now on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital via Paramount.
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