There are only a few horror sequels that can really elevate the original idea of the first film and take it to new heights without resorting to stupidly grandiloquent or illogical stuff. As for Smile, from the very beginning, we could sense a type of instant cult success: a demonic being drives people crazy by making them believe others are watching and twistedly smiling at them all the time, beginning a vicious cycle filled with paranoia that makes them kill themselves, which allows the demonic being to possess another person's body. Parker Finn, the creator of this imminent saga, has the powerful ability to understand that the greatest impact this film can have on the audience when scaring them is achieved by taking care of the means and introducing the most primitive and archaic fears in a solid story. Consequently, his two first movies are perfect to explore a new dawn in a genre that's being reinvented in an unprecedented way.
Subjectively, one of my first fears that I unfortunately acquired when I was young—yes, I have plenty—was the fear of people smiling at me and my own smile. I still vividly remember being sick in my grandmother's house when I was six years old. While I was laying on bed waiting for her home-made remedy—which basically consisted of tea with milk and some soaked crackers, an invention she called "healing soup"—she told me two people came to visit me. I don't know if it was because of my cold or what, but I will never forget when two of my grandmother's brothers approached my bed and one of them—who had a slight intellectual disability—smiled at me, placing his face practically next to mine. I had to explain this so you could understand why I'm afraid of smiles.
When the sequel of this unexpected and successful horror film with one of the best marketing campaigns in recent times—no, not you Longlegs—was announced, my expectations were shaken. Smile 2 had everything to join the group of forgettable sequels that fall short in comparison to their predecessors: a much more "modern" story, a bigger budget—yes, I'm talking to you Joker: Folie à Deux—and a fandom that, even though it gradually grew from the premiere of the first movie two years ago, wasn't that big to consider it massive. But interestingly, something was also telling me this time would be different. Parker Finn, in charge of bringing this universe full of imaginary sinister smiles to life, sat on the director's chair once again willing to reaffirm what we all witnessed in 2022.
The sequel starts six days after the first film's ending, in which Rose returned to her childhood home to face her traumas and ultimately found the demonic being that she ended up "swallowing," triggering the only thing this cosmic or supernatural being wants: suicide. Her friend, Joel, witnessed everything and now has to make the demonic being possess another person before he also kills himself. Everything turns out pretty bad, but this first brutal scene in Smile 2 shows how magnificent big ideas are. Then, a truck hits a person, whose blood trail transforms into a big red smile and the title of the movie appears together with Cristobal Tapia de Veer's impeccable synthetic soundtrack. Absolute brilliance.
What paths could have Finn taken for this second part? In a recent interview, he commented that Joel's character could have had much potential as the protagonist. Even though I consider Kyle Gallner one of the best emerging talents, I think the decision of expanding this universe was the best and smartest one. The first scene diverts to Skye Riley, a huge popstar and drug addict that is suffering from depression after experiencing a car accident with his former partner Paul Hudson (played by Ray Nicholson, Jack's son and a sort of tribute to The Shining's Jack Torrance) one year before.
I'm not going to lie to you: at first, I thought this was a terrible idea solely drawn as an excuse to lure musical fans and teenagers that could "identify" with the story—since everyone wants to be a huge star overnight nowadays. But no. Behind all this facade, Finn exposes his obsessions over the meanings of heavy family burden—mostly the maternal one with overprotection and its traumas like in the first film—the overload of fame and public or media exposure. We witness all this together with an impeccable grotesque psychological body horror piece in which the director digs up all kinds of aesthetic and narrative elements to control not only the monstrous being and its relationship with the protagonist, but also us, the audience.
Finn found the perfect—and unexpected to almost everyone—embodiment of Skye Riley in the British actress Naomi Scott. Women in this genre are having such an amazing year, especially regarding their performances: Demi Moore in The Substance, Nell Tiger Free in The First Omen, Willa Fitzgerald in Strange Darling… and now Naomi Scott. Skye is a type of Lady Gaga with a lot of glamour externally, but with low self-esteem internally. In these quick times, the director symbolically portrays the media persecution through horror, and I found it simply amazing. The young lady witnesses her dealer, Lewis Fregoli*, kill himself and there's no better host for the smiling being that one full of fears, insecurities and traumas. Horror is served.
One of the most positive aspects of this sequel is that, despite having a larger budget— that wasn't even that crazy in comparison to Joker and its sequel, which I found extremely unnecessary and isn't even reflected in Arthur Fleck's story—all the resources the technical team had on hand were fully seized to present an immersive and creative experience all-around. The shots, both suggestive and powerful, prove the great ability a director with vision can have. The perfect fusion between the experimental aspect of spontaneous creative ideas and the strength of a complete story presents this master plan of a film that, in my opinion, will go down in history as one of the most iconic ones in a couple of years.
The movie, which shows more than a few possibilities a villain can have when trying to drive its hosts crazy, introduces an insane mise-en-scène in which nothing is as it seems. Mister Smiley's reality and fiction shocks us at all times without resorting to redundant resolutions. Is it possible this repulsive and disgusting lover of smiles is invincible? There's no happy ending in Smile 2 and I hope there isn't one in any of the probable future sequels. For the time being, let's smile: there's horror in all its splendor.
* Fregoli delusion is a disorder in which a person believes people they know are being replaced by someone with a costume or that changed their appearance in another way.
Posted on DECEMBER 6, 2024, 02:35 PM | UTC-GMT -3
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