The plot twisted smiles and delusions rip open the comfort zone of modern horror in the Smile franchise.
The first Smile movie was released in 2022, ending with a steep cliffhanger, leaving viewers eager to get to the theater to see Smile 2, released Oct. 18, 2024. Smile 2 expands on the original film’s idea of the haunting of a person’s thoughts and insecurities. The parasite takes the form of loved ones with a creepy smile on their face, that only the victim can see.
Recovering substance addict Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is beginning her first tour since the fatal car crash that killed her boyfriend Paul Hudson (Ray Nicholson) and injured her to the point where she thought there was no return. But now, she’s back and better than ever—or so she told herself.
To recap, Joel (Kyle Gallner) now has the curse, which was passed to him from Rose, after she lit herself on fire at the end of the previous movie.
Insanity slowly unfolds throughout the film. To give a solid review, it would be hard not to recap the plot.
The film begins with Joel attempting to pass on the curse to violent drug dealers. However, a surprise visitor witnesses it. Joel gets blown to bits by a car, inadvertently passing on the curse to the young man who we soon learn to be named Lewis Fregoli (Lukas Gage).
The film now cuts to what appears to be a basement, where a TV is playing Riley’s first public appearance since the fatality, and we watch it through someone else’s eyes. The view slowly zooms into the TV, and eventually, our perspective switches from watching to being present in the room where the interview is happening. We can see Riley, the interviewer’s every bead of sweat and hear each of their breaths. Riley is clearly nervous, but is holding her own against the anxiety of millions of eyes on her.
This is the last day she has before her mind becomes infected.
Later that night, Skye goes to visit her old drug dealer from high school, Lewis Fregoli, to get Vicodin for her back pain induced by the car accident. Lewis immediately started acting weird and delusional when she got there, emanating heavy symptoms of schizophrenia. Minutes later, Fregoli is smashing his face in with a weight plate, all while an unsettling grin plasters his face. Skye witnessed the whole scene, too stunned to speak. Viewers who have watched the previous Smile know that this is the beginning of the end.
This is the first, but not only tragedy of the next two hours of run time.
Over the next few days, Skye has visions of people smiling at her, feeding on her mental instability and weaknesses. The focus she had on her tour soon turned to constant anxiety and delusional behavior. When overwhelmed, she drinks a whole bottle of water, specifically the brand “Voss” water which is very prevalent throughout the film, evidently the brand is a sponsor.
Skye calls her ex-best friend, Gemma (Dylan Gelula), hoping to be able to confide in her, and to her surprise, Gemma calls back immediately and comes over to Skye’s apartment. They spend the next few days together after Skye’s rehearsals and events. Later, Gemma becomes another illusion in Skye’s mind induced by the curse.
Skye is receiving strange texts from an unknown number, containing warnings of the danger she’s in. She eventually responds and is instructed to meet the unknown number at a bar. The unknown number is Morris (Peter Jacobson), and he tells Skye she has to die before the curse kills her to get rid of it forever. He says can stop her heart safely and then bring her back. She’s skeptical and leaves.
Soon after, Skye gets a concussion and wakes up in a wellness retreat with her mother beside her bed. The curse suddenly takes over and blinds her vision from reality, this time in the form of her own mother and it appears that her mother proceeds to break a mirror and slice her neck with a glass shard. Skye then snaps out of it, glass shard in hand, and realizes herself to be soaked in blood that is not her own, but her mother’s.
This is when Skye decides to meet Morris for help. When she gets there, Morris abandons her in a pizzeria freezer. He does not come back and snapping out of it, Skye is now on stage, under bright lights, under the eyes of thousands, including her mother. The previous half hour seems to have all been an illusion grown in her mind. The smile demon is still there, and forces her to bash her head with a microphone, until she is dead, while the audience watches in horror.
Smile 2 was not just a sequel to the original Smile, it explored more elements of delusion present in the original and expanded on fear and self-hatred.
The only thing about the film that didn’t quite fit was the heavy presence of Voss water. Other than that, the gorgeous levels of psychological fear and jumpscares are woven throughout the plot with gold thread, giving a perfectly over the top scare.
Naomi Scott is nothing short of phenomenal in this film. She is absolutely immersed in the fright embedded in her character. She represented the anxiety and insecure self-hatred in so many stars in the industry. It’s almost believable that Scott had really been under the influence of the curse.
The lifted corners of Skye Riley’s lips, forming a spine-chilling smile is the last thing we see.
Smile 3 is definitely expected to be apocalyptic.
