Horror Movie Review: Smile (2022)

Smile is a horror film that was written and directed by Parker Finn in his feature directorial debut, releasing in 2022. The trailer for Smile grabbed a lot of people’s attention, it certainly grabbed mine. To see a mainstream horror movie presenting what appeared to be a somewhat fresh and scary new concept is always an exciting prospect. That and an effective viral marketing campaign, in which actors would appear at MLB games while smiling maniacally into the camera.

Dr. Rose Cotter meets with Laura, a PhD student who had several days earlier witnessed her art history professor die by suicide. Laura claims that an entity is stalking and telling her she is going to die. Soon thereafter, Laura begins screaming hysterically and has a seizure. After Rose calls for help, she sees Laura standing up and grinning. With a shard of a broken plant pot, Laura commits suicide by slitting her throat. Rose later sees her manic patient Carl grinning and shouting she is going to die. Rose calls for nurses to restrain him, only to see he was asleep the whole time. Concerned for Rose’s mental well-being, her supervisor Dr. Morgan Desai gives her a week off.

The following days, the hallucinations continue, making Rose seem unhinged to people around her, including her fiancé Trevor and Sister Holly. At her nephew’s birthday party, Rose’s gift has somehow been replaced by her dead cat (RIP Moustache), horrifying the children. She sees a party attendant grinning at her that no one else can see and falls onto a glass table, ending the party in chaos. Later, she visits her former therapist, who suggests that her problems stem from her abusive and mentally ill mother, whose death from an overdose she witnessed as a child.

Upon learning Laura’s professor was grinning at her before his death, Rose visits his widow. She learns he was affected after witnessing a woman die by suicide….

Can Rose survive and unravel the mystery? Or will she fall victim to the curse like so many before her? Check out Smile to find out.

Smile isn’t exactly original in concept, it’s easy to draw comparisons to movies such as; It Follows, The Ring etc. Not only that but I found the general structure and the ways in which events unfold a little too familiar to those films, especially The Ring. Much like The Ring (2002), Smile has an absolutely fantastic opening. The scene where Laura kills herself is so well done, its equal parts freaky and memorable. Unfortunately, just like The Ring (2002) what proceeds this never reaches those same heights. It’s about 90 minutes of meandering conversations and investigatory chit chat. I understand the reasoning for these moments but it just isn’t that interesting to sit through. This could have been alleviated somewhat had the film gone for a more “show, don’t tell approach”.

Of course, there are some highlights as the entity stalks Rose in frightening fashion. Although, as enjoyable as these are, it wears thin when you don’t see anything physical happen to Rose. Huge credit to Sosie Bacon for her performance here. There are times when Smile can feel a bit cheap but her performance really elevates it. If there is ever to be a sequel, I can see it struggling without her. It’s just a shame that every other character in Smile are rendered mostly pointless inclusions.

Now, let’s get positive. The effects throughout are great and there are some creative moments in certain scenes. The whole concept with the smiling and so on is creepy and enjoyable. It may be lacking in originality for the most part but it instead takes elements from other movies and delivers something solid in its own right. It’s just a shame that a decent portion of the film is so mundane.