‘Smile 2’ Review: Funhouse Horror That Does The Trick

Two years ago, Smile was a pleasant surprise: a solid supernatural horror movie that lived up to its ubiquitous marketing. (Planting actors behind home plate at Major League Baseball games to grin directly into the TV cameras was a brilliant stunt.) Smile 2, out this weekend, essentially applies the slasher sequel formula to its demonic possession gimmick, pitting its invisible monster against new victims in a new setting. For fans of the first film, it’s more of the same, and for any casual horror viewers who are up for a funhouse thrill this October, it’ll do the trick. 

The smiling demon’s latest victim is Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a pop star who’s about to launch a comeback tour after a traumatic and very public fall from grace. A year ago, a coked-up Skye was in a horrible car crash that claimed the life of her famous actor boyfriend (Ray Nicholson). Now, she’s out of drug rehab, but the hard work of rehabilitating her image and her career still lies ahead. Already buckling under the pressure of the multi-million dollar business in which she is the product, Skye witnesses the bizarre suicide of her old drug dealer (Lukas Gage). Now struck by gruesome visions and paranoid delusions, Skye initially assumes she’s losing her mind. But, of course, we know better.

While “the real monster is trauma!” is the subtext of practically every horror movie of the past decade, Smile 2 stands out by focusing on a very specific character having a very specific, yet familiar breakdown. The public at large has an unhealthy relationship with stars and stardom, but as easy as it is to scoff at the champagne problems of the rich and beautiful, any interrogation into the life of an A-list pop idol reveals it to be unenviable at best and nightmarish at worst. Smile 2 establishes the exhaustion, dehumanization and constant danger of Riley’s life before the supernatural threat even takes hold. The demon simply cranks up the heat under an already simmering pot, threatening to turn her into the abusive, self-destructive nightmare that everyone assumes she will inevitably become.

Laid on top of these themes is a pretty standard studio horror flick, though it’s worth noting that the standard for studio horror flicks has arguably never been higher. Director Parker Finn and Cinematographer Charlie Sarroff are clearly having fun here, building tension with long, floating takes through locations and tight, chin-to-forehead closeups, then shaking the audience with a jump scare or two. Or five. There are a lot of jump scares, and as exhausting as that can become, Finn and company spice things up by chasing a great many of these scares with a solid gag. Comic relief comes early and often, usually via Dylan Gelula as Skye’s unflappable best friend, Gemma, but the pop-music industrial complex also gets a good ribbing throughout. Memes mashing up this movie with the recent ones of Justin Timberlake saying “This is gonna ruin the tour” basically write themselves.

The secret MVP of Smile 2 is dance choreographer Celia Rowlson Hall, whose work you may have seen in Aftersun and After Yang. Even for viewers generally unmoved by arena stage shows, the numbers that Skye and her team rehearse throughout the film are mesmerizing (and far more memorable than the music they’re set to). Skye’s dance team and their unsettling body control contribute greatly to what should go down as the film’s signature horror sequence, a moment in which this sequel’s pop star conceit really pays dividends. Its only competition for Play of the Game is a truly gnarly and harrowing depiction of Skye’s car crash.

Though the true sickos will probably prefer Terrifier 3, Smile 2 ought to quench the blood thirst of the seasonal horror movie fan. There’s convincingly practical blood, guts and faces peeling off skulls, but not so much that the squeamish will watch the whole film through their laced-up fingers. As in the first film, the obvious digital effects are saved for the climax, and in both cases, the film would be better off without them. There is, naturally, a sequel hook, but arguably one that’s better left to the imagination than to another feature film. For the most part, however, Smile 2 meets its unambitious goals as an entertaining, not entirely brainless fright fest.