Smile 2 - No One's Smiling Here

Before we begin our dive into the sequel, what did I think of the first?

The first Smile movie was a slow, uncomfortable build to an insane ending. It wasn't exactly being subtle as a metaphor for mental illness. The story is based around a psychiatrist who witnesses a patient kill themselves right in front of her. All part of a seemingly never-ending curse by a spirit/entity/demon type thing.

The person witnesses a suicide, the curse is passed on to them. The only way out? Kill someone with a witness and pass it on to them...I think.

Throughout the movie, the psychiatrist starts to lose her mind to this thing and reality starts to fade. She figures out a way to stop it, but a do-gooder cop friend shows up while she's enacting her plan to kill herself alone. That's where we begin our story in Smile 2.

While the first one was about mental illness, the second was a metaphor for addiction. Once again, not very subtle about it.

Naomi Scott plays Skye Riley, a pop star who's star has faded over the last year following a tragic accident that left her boyfriend/fiancé dead. After a year of recovery, she's days away from kicking off her tour. You know what that means?

Non-spoiler alert...she get's hit by the curse.

This movie was, in my opinion, a lot better than the first one. The first was a slow build. This one builds and builds at a much better pace. There were times where I was wondering if what I was seeing was even happening. Because that's the genius of the movie. You're seeing things through Skye's eyes and she is slowly decending into the madness of the curse.

You literally do not know what is reality and what's the entity driving her into madness.

Just when you think you know what's going on is the precise moment you know nothing.

There is one similar shot (just different locations) done in this. It's a slow turn of the camera upside down, representing her world has now literally been turned upside down. It's symbolism is, again, not subtle, but it works for it.

Unlike the first one, I felt the tension of this as it built, especially in the final 20 minutes when she's trying to find a way to end the curse.

While you don't necessarily need to see the first to see this one, watch both. But if you only want to watch one, I'd go with this one. It ups the creepy factor and the tension keeps you at the edge of your seat until the very end.

4/5