My Review of Smile 2 (2024)

 

Written And Directed by Parker Finn

Skye: "Stop smiling at me!"

The last few months have certainly been heating up on the horror front, delightfully giving something for everyone and a sequel to a surprise hit from two years can also be added into the mix. This one has got to be admired for it's ambition.

With the first movie being somewhat grounded in its approach with that demonic smiling curse, this one took it to a new level. First of all, it did commit the horror trope of killing off the previous movie's survivor in order to pivot the story to a new protagonist.

Kyle Gallner had a great supporting role in the first movie as police officer, Joel but here his role was to to use his curse to take out some bad people and then die. It's a bit disappointing if you wanted to see more of the guy. Not meant to be here.

With Joel quickly done with, the focus was on recovering drug addict popstar Skye Riley (Naomi Scott). If Trap didn't serve you enough concert goodness, this movie won't either. Yes, there's performance, weird fan encounters and rehearsals from hell but they're all a backdoor to the main event.

By making the mistake of hooking up with her dealer, Lewis (Lukas Gage), Skye ended up getting that curse and spent most of the movie, trying to survive while scaring the shit out of her manager mother, Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt) and assistant, Joshua (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) when not taking measures to stay alive.

There's some truly brilliant moments in this movie with Skye's character. We saw her destructive relationship with deceased boyfriend Paul (Ray Nicholson) through flashbacks as well as a fractured friendship with Gemma (Dylan Gelula). Skye's a total mess as a character with Naomi Scott delivering an incredible performance. As for the final outcome, oh they really set the stage for a third outing.

- Drew Barrymore appeared as herself in the movie. She interviewed Skye on her show.

- Skye's look was inspired by Kristen Stewart and Lady Gaga. Nai Scott has previously worked with the former.

- Lewis's surname is Fregoli. The Fregoli delusion is a real thing that somewhat fits into the Smile Entity's mantra.

- The movie certainly found a few nifty ways to incorporate a smile besides the obvious one.

- Standout music: Skye's songlist included Grieved You, New Brain, Just My Name, Blood On White Satin and Death Of Me.

- Chronology: Six days after the events for the first movie. Skye's comeback concert was in New York.

Smile 2 wins points for it's sheer ambition and the ability to pull off those ambitions. There's a star turn performance from Naomi Scott, who's utterly sublime throughout. I enjoyed the first movie but this one was so much better. I'm hoping we get a third.

Rating: 8 out of 10