In a year where Jordan Peele’s third movie, Nope, was released, and Halloween Ends promises to end the story of Laurie Strode and Michaels Myers, Smile has received quite the push from Paramount. Trailers have been playing for several months. And Paramount went the extra mile with some clever viral marketing at a handful of Major League Baseball games. Despite this being an original property someone had a lot of confidence in this one. As it turns out, Smile has been worth the investment, proving to be a hit with fans and critics alike. Though its premise shares a bit of DNA with past horror classics, movie-goers don’t seem to mind so far.

Synopsis

In an emergency mental health wing of a hospital, psychiatrist Dr. Rose Cotter does an intake assessment with a graduate student in distress. During the session, the patient describes a morbidly grinning entity – one only she can see – that’s stalking her. But before Rose can offer any assistance, her patient suddenly cuts open her own throat. Still reeling from the traumatic experience, Rose begins seeing the same haunting images her patient described. As she uncovers more about her curse, Rose learns that she has only a matter of days to break a deadly chain and save herself.

Smiles Brings Plenty of Scares and Distinguishes Itself From Similar Fare

Before Smile even starts, it has a couple of hills to climb before you can fully buy into it. While its premise seems fun, can writer and director Parker Finn stretch it into something more than just a gimmick? And just how much DNA in common does Smile share some other pretty good, innovative horror movies? Most notably, It Follows and The Ring look like they have some fingers on this screenplay. The good news for horror fans – Finn makes the premise work as a whole movie that’s influenced by, but not beholden, to these movies. In fact, Smile initially takes expected turns before finding some unexpected detours in its own story. Ultimately, Finn puts audiences into a climax where the conclusion never feels set in stone. If there’s an opening for a sequel, it’s quite a welcome one.

The good news for horror fans – Finn makes the premise work as a whole movie that’s influenced by, but not beholden, to these movies.

Of course, Smile succeeds for one simple reason – it’s an absolutely terrifying movie. Anyone looking for a good scary movie to watch this Halloween season should go see this one in theaters. Simply put, Smile was made to be watched through your fingers in a dark cineplex, surrounded by other shrieking movie-goers. Finn orchestrates several impressive jump scares that work even if you see them coming from a million miles away. And Finn includes more than a few surprises as well. Smile uses lightning and corners of the screen to put audiences on edge. Both the sound design and eccentric score from Cristobal Tapia de Veer deliver big assists. In spite of its 14A rating, Smile has some disturbing imagery and brutal scenes. And Finn shows just enough of the monster behind the smile to enhance – rather than detract – from the atmosphere he’s carefully crafted.

Smile Gets Help From a Stellar Lead Performance

A big part of Smile’s ability to make the premise work as a movie owes to Sosie Bacon’s performance as Dr. Rose Cotter. She offers an emotional and physical performance that makes the character’s increasing desperation nearly as frightening as the jump scares. At times, Smile threatens to veer off into self-parody, but Bacon always grounds the movie. Watching her physical deterioration from the opening scene to the climax is startling though occasionally lost amidst the bigger scares. Aside from Bacon, Kyle Gallner (Scream, The Cleansing Hour, Red State) does enough good work in the background to maybe earn a return in a potential sequel. But Smile largely wastes Kal Penn and Jessie T Usher in their supporting roles.

A big part of Smile’s ability to make the premise work as a movie owes to Sosie Bacon’s performance as Dr. Rose Cotter.

Some audiences may struggle more with the modus operandi of the movie’s monster. With its centerpiece death scenes revolving around suicide and a monster that exploits trauma, Smile certainly touches on a nerve. For the most part, Parker’s screenplay devotes itself to exploring the adverse effects of trauma – it never feel like the movie is mistreating the subject just for scares. On the other hand, other horror releases in the last year or so have more wholeheartedly addressed the issue. That is, Smile is more of a glossy popcorn horror movie than a thematically rich exploration of human grief.

Smile Turns Simple Premise Into Terrifying Horror Experience

Thus far the latter half of 2022 has boasted several standout horror movies. And there’s still just over three weeks until Halloween. In spite of what looked like a one-note gimmick, Smile can count itself among one of the better horror movies of the year. Yes, it’s a popcorn horror that’s subtext around trauma lacks the depth of other recent movies dealing with similar themes. But Smile is an absolutely terrifying movie featuring an excellent lead performance and chilling sound design and score.

THE PROFESSOR’S FINAL GRADE: A-