If watching the trailer for first-time feature director Parker Finn’s Smile evokes memories of a particularly disturbing videotape from an, at the time, unknown movie that had the casual horror filmgoing fan cowering their eyes behind their hands for the better part of two hours, it’s because it’s supposed to. I’m referring, of course, to the 2002 classic The Ring, and the comparison I’m making is the phone call the watcher receives after watching the videotape, which tells them they have seven days to live. Likewise, the Smile trailer informs us that when the viewer sees “it” (what “it” is, we are uncertain), they will soon die. While there are both similarities and differences between the two films, what is certain is that The Ring grossed $129 million domestically at the box office, a figure Finn would gladly like to duplicate.
In a year that has already produced some incredibly original movies, including some “killer” horrors, such as Barbarian, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Pearl, and Orphan: First Kill, Smile could be the best of the bunch. Horror film purists will likely disagree, mainly because Smile plays out more as a psychological thriller than a horror film. Its dark tones, unsettling imagery, onscreen suicides, and vulgar language. It is very much a horror film while also bringing psychological trauma, supernatural phenomena, and mental health elements to the forefront, and making them a part of the story as jump scares. You’ll get those jump scares, but the film is far more thought-provoking than your typical slasher films (which have defined many horrors over the last dozen years).
Watch my video review of Smile above.
Smile was my introduction to every actor in this movie, other than Kal Penn (Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Fox’s House), which enhanced my theater experience much more than I thought it would. The relatively new and unknown Sosie Bacon plays the lead protagonist, Dr. Rose Cotter, a therapist employed at a New Jersey hospital’s emergency psychiatric ward. The film opens with Rose introducing a new patient, Laura (Caitlin Stasey – The Only One, I, Frankenstein), a Ph.D. candidate in psychiatry. Laura is frantic, believing that there is some sort of entity out there that is trying to kill her. In vague enough terms for us to have some imagery without seeing this entity herself, saying that it looks like people but is not a person. It sometimes looks like someone she recognizes, and sometimes not. This phenomenon has haunted her for four days since she witnessed a college professor commit suicide by repeatedly striking himself with a hammer. When Laura starts screaming upon seeing the image behind Rose, she drops a ceramic cup, which shatters. Rose quickly calls for emergency help to restrain Laura. As she turns around, she sees Laura so still that she appears frozen, with a huge, petrifying grin. She then uses a sharp piece of the shattered cup and slices her throat.
Our terror, mystery, suspense, and mental health examination begins from here. The other significant players, ones who, over the next few days, become increasingly worried about Rose’s mental state, are her boss at the hospital, Morgan (Penn), her fiancé Trevor (Jessie Usher – Shaft, Independence Day: Resurgence), her sister, Holly (Gillian Zinser), her previous therapist, Madeline (Robin Weigert – Bombshell, Deadwood: The Movie), and her ex-boyfriend cop, Joel (Kyle Gallner – Scream, The Finest Hours). All care for Rose in the most sincere of ways, but believe her problem to be rooted neurologically, most specifically in an early trauma in her life where she witnessed her mother dive so profoundly into addiction and depression that it caused her to take her final breaths, pleading for Rose to help her. From here, Rose frantically begins to uncover clues, using Joel’s resources in the police force as aids, all in an attempt to eliminate this demonic thing from terrorizing her and destroying her life.
Bacon was fantastic. Bacon delivers in a big way in her first big-budget lead role. Her performance reminded me of Watts’ breakout performance in The Ring, a film that vaulted the latter into Hollywood’s mainstream. Bacon portrayed Rose in a way that made us feel like we were standing beside her the entire time. I never felt like Finn let us become Rose, but we were allowed to see her the same way each character did. At the same time, we knew what she saw was real, whereas her stories seemed too far-fetched for even the most supernatural believer to accept. Bacon lifts the performances of the other characters in a movie. In the most literal sense, they are supporting actors who are there to bolster her credibility. At the same time, Smile succeeds because Bacon disappears into Rose in a way that will undoubtedly have you thinking about Watts in The Ring.
Smile is not only a suspenseful scare fest but also incredibly enjoyable. It is fascinating, full of characters to root for, has haunting instrumental music, and will keep you engaged. While it borrows heavily from previous horror films, it also features many original elements. Like most good horror films, Smile was meant to be seen in theaters. If the films mentioned at the bottom of this review are ones you like, Smile is a movie for you.
Plot 8/10
Character Development 8/10
Character Chemistry 7/10
Acting 8/10
Screenplay 8/10
Directing 8.5/10
Cinematography 9.5/10
Sound 10/10
Hook and Reel 10/10
Universal Relevance 7/10 (Anything that can play on our fears like this can feel all too real)
84%
B
Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie
- The Ring
- Antlers
- Fallen
- Obsession
- It Follows