Smile 2 is a continuation of 2022’s Smile. This time around we follow pop star Skye Riley as she becomes plagued with the trauma entity right as she is about to go on tour. Smile 2 takes the framework established and expands the scope while still telling a deeply personal tale about mental health. Naomi Scott is our new protagonist and delivers one of the year’s best performances.
Smile 2 is one of the scarier movies I’ve seen this year. It is very reliant on jump scares, but they were complimented with a properly tense atmosphere and effective scenes that build up tension. The best scares for me weren’t the jumpscares, but the moments that lingered for what seemed like forever, leaving me in a waiting period of dread. Dread is what is horrifying on a deeper level, the feeling that you can’t escape, no matter what. That no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you can not win. Director Parker Finn was on his game with this message in Smile 2 and it made this movie haunting.
Naomi Scott transcends her role and makes this a career-defining performance. Her portrayal of guilt, anxiety, depression, paranoia, and abuse is completely nuanced and delivers it all with such poise and emotion. She makes Skye more than just a character, but a real person who is flawed but is trying to control everything out of her control. All this makes her the perfect target for our demon/entity, who feeds on trauma as it did with Rose in the last movie. But like with Rose, Skye’s journey of discovery and her fight with her demon is so engaging and keeps us on the edge of our seats the entire time.
The story follows pop star Skye Riley coming back to the spotlight one year after she was involved in a car crash that killed her boyfriend while they were both under the influence. She witnesses a friend/her drug dealer kill himself which transfers the demon onto her and now she has to find a way to kill it or she will be its next victim. Writing this review a day after seeing the movie, I realize that the story is essentially just the same as the first movie. There are no real attempts to flesh out the demon or add more to its lore. What happened to Rose happens to Skye, just on a much larger scale. The only real change is when Rose is told she can pass the demon off by killing someone else in front of a witness, Skye is told there is a way to potentially end her line without having to pass it on to anyone else. It might end the same way, but we do get to go down two different paths. I believe they’re going to keep making more movies so I hope there’s more of an attempt to flesh out the world.
The ending of Smile 2 is somewhat expected, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a bonkers ride anyway. I think it perfectly fit the story Finn wanted to tell, and perfectly wrapped up Skye’s story. I wasn’t the biggest fan of how much is meant to hallucinations or dreams, but the ending is insane either way. The demon’s design is once again horrifying and its entrance into the movie is instantly unforgettable. It sets up a truly horrifying reality that I hope is explored in Smile 3.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Smile 2 is a very good movie that continues to add scale to the frightening world Parker Finn created. Naomi Scott delivers the best performance of her career and perhaps of the year as a damaged but empathetic Skye Riley. The scares are all great, the gore is terrific, and the themes of mental wellness and trauma continue to be delivered in thought-provoking ways. Make sure you see Smile 2 while you can, but be prepared for unrelenting dread and scares.