Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
While I was *very* much a fan of Parker Finnās 2022 hit SMILE, despite its treatment of mental health, its Sequel is truly something spectacular stepping-up its scale, even if it is a bit of the same at the core. This, and a career-defining performance from its star, Naomi Scott.
This terrifying Sequel focuses on Skye Riley (Scott), who is a huge superstar singer who is trying to reclaim her life after a horrific accident that occurred a year ago, while she was under the influence and took the life of her partner Paul (Ray Nicholson). While Skye is trying to get back into tour preparation, her injuries start acting up so she goes to visit her old friend/dealer, Lewis Fregoli (Lukas Gage), but not everything is as it seems. Lewis is clearly on-edge, and not able to act rationally or normally, and ends up smiling at Skye, smashing his face in with a 35-pound bench press weight. This gives Skye the being in her possession and her life slowly starts to unravel as she is now possessed by the Smile curse/demon. Trying to help her handle all of this, while being completely in the dark about what is happening is her mother Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt), her assistant Joshua (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) and her former reclaimed best friend Gemma (Dylan Gelula). With Skyeās worldwide fame and a tour hinging on her not cancelling, again, and being possessed by the demon only time will tell if she will become another victim or able to finally stop this menacing creature.
Parker Finn manages to put lightning in a bottle with the creative prowess and brilliance of Smile and continue to create an isolated storm of brilliance with the Sequel. However, taking an ideology of possession, there is only so much that can be done before it feels like itās being repeated and is beating the audience over the head continuously. While the scale is so much larger, due to Skye being a world-renowned singer, the general concept stays the same and the concert aspect is not a large focus on the Film or the demonās ultimate goal. It is still refreshing and innovative, and with a possible third installment there is certainly a new creative vision that can come from it, but it must end at three as there will not be a further world to explore?
Smile 2 works well almost entirely because of Scott‘s brilliance.Ā While this is certainly far from her first outing (she starred in reboots of Aladdin, Charlieās Angels – in which she was great), this is the first time where she gets to truly shine bright and show her true range. Her ability to be in the spotlight while being in recovery, struggling to keep things together, trying to hide the fact that there is something living inside of her is nothing shy of brilliant. All three bring different levels of emotional depth and expertise, and her performance is reflective of it all and then some in a tenfold performance. While Scott is accompanied by DeWitt, who has a singular scene that is remarkable, Gelula, Gage, and Guiterrez-Riley all shine as well in their supporting roles helping lift Scott. Lastly Nicholson (son of Jack), who was not given enough screentime, makes for a strong argument for the future and peaks our curiosity.
Smile 2 is a worthy Sequel that manages to continue breaking the moulds of the Horror genre, and allows the Franchise to breathe, capturing some of the that magic the first film had. While the originality might not be there, as the concept wasnāt exactly reinventing the wheel, the starmaking performance from Scott and scares that Finn crafts, are more than worthy of a revisit. Your skin will crawl. This Horror is crammed with jump scares and brilliant performances that will delight audiences!
Paramount Pictures Canada release SMILE 2 in theatres on Friday, October 18, 2024.
For advertising opportunites please contact mrwill@mrwillwong.com