Smile 2 is a supernatural horror film and a sequel to Smile (2022), directed and written by the same filmmaker, Parker Finn. With just a two-year gap, it’s no surprise that the sequel was produced given the critical and commercial success of the first film, which grossed USD 217 million globally (on a USD 17 million budget). The sequel now stars Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo, Dylan Gelula, Ray Nicholson, and Kyle Gallner. With little expectation, sequels usually struggle to match the original’s quality—will the same tradition repeat here?
The story follows Skye Riley (Scott), a young and hugely successful pop diva with a dark and traumatic past involving drug abuse. She fought hard to overcome her demons, but even though her career is soaring, her physical condition is not what it used to be. When she seeks painkillers from a friend, she suddenly witnesses her friend brutally killing herself right in front of her eyes. From that moment on, Skye begins experiencing hallucinations, seeing figures staring at her with a sinister smile.
It’s important to note that Smile 2’s plot may be hard to follow if you haven’t watched the first film. The storyline revolves around a curse from an evil entity that jumps from person to person, wreaking havoc on their mental state by causing intense hallucinations. Eventually, the cursed individual kills themselves in a gruesome way, and the entity then possesses the person who last witnessed the event. The first film detailed this process, ending with a shocking conclusion.
In the sequel, the plot shifts to focus purely on Skye’s psychological torment, as she is haunted by the curse from one moment to the next with no breaks in between. The lines between reality and imagination are almost impossible to distinguish. It’s even more absurd than the first film, making the audience feel as if they are inside Skye’s mind. In short, you fully experience the pain, frustration, fear, and trauma of the character, in a way reminiscent of Midsommar. Naomi Scott’s performance as a mentally tormented diva is undoubtedly the movie’s greatest strength. In my opinion, it’s one of the best acting performances in the popular horror genre. Interestingly, the film’s aesthetic achievement is almost on par with an art movie.
You can sense the film’s uniqueness right from the opening scene, which is captured in a single long take. This impressive sequence follows one of the characters intensely until it ends with a shocking event. The cinematography throughout the film is well-executed, with frequent but fresh jump scares and minimal cutting between shots. In some scenes, the camera even rotates upside down to represent Skye’s hallucinatory world. Another difference from the first film is the ominous score, which enhances the overall fear factor. The aesthetic approach is to make the audience feel uncomfortable, mirroring Skye’s experience.
Smile 2 is a rare achievement for a sequel, brilliantly using its premise to deliver deeper subtext and messages, all wrapped in a visually stunning package with a standout lead performance. While the message might echo the first film, the inclusion of a superstar character like Skye makes it feel even more powerful. It’s like saying, “Fame can destroy your life and the people around you.” Several lines of dialogue hint at this, and the film’s shocking ending leaves no doubt about it. If there’s a third installment, it likely won’t just focus on a single personal issue, but instead relate to a whole generation dealing with today’s world. There’s nothing better than this—Smile 2 is, so far, the best horror film of the year, and the director’s talent is undeniable.
