SMILE (2022)

a review by Evan Landon

Upon seeing the initial trailers for this 2022 supernatural psychological thriller, I was immediately intrigued. Where else had I seen the same fear of people smiling at me right before they off themselves, then like a demonic virus, it makes that person kill themselves too? Now, I am sure there is a movie just like that somewhere, but my point is that I cannot remember one. That being said, I was quick to run and go see it in the theaters. Boy, howdy, was I not disappointed!

Before I get too far into this review, have you ever realized how close the genres of horror and comedy actually are? I mean, aside from the entire horror/comedy sub genre that is wildly popular these days, you see a lot of comedic actors in horror movies and horror movie actors in comedy, for whatever reason, and it works. I don't know why, but it works. That is not to say Smile is in any way a comedic horror, but there is an unsettling feeling when someone smiles or laughs maniacally as they do in this film. I want to say that is exactly what first time director Parker Finn was going for here. His only film credits up until was a short called The Hidebehind (which I did enjoy) and another called Laura Hasn't Slept which is essentially the short film/prologue Finn made before Smile that starred the same character & actress that is the first victim in this one. That really is cool how they overlap like that. It kind of does that in Smile 2, but I'm getting to far ahead of myself.

The plot is a bit convoluted, but that does not mean it is bad, by any means. Far from it, in fact. After witnessing one of her patients (the before mentioned Laura) slashing her own throat in her office whilst smiling at her maniacally, Dr. Rose Cotter begins to have hallucinations that there is an entity haunting her through that experience. Most notably is the exact same grinning smile her patient had accompanies each episode, causing her to fall further and further into insanity, destroying her relationships and forcing her to confront her own guilt that made her want to be a therapist in the first place.

For me, Smile is a reflection on mental health and a commentary on the practice itself. Sure, there is a demonic spirit causing peeps to un-alive themselves, but that could also be interpreted as a person falling deeper and deeper into their depression and self-induced hallucinations based wholly on past events that resulted in an overwhelming sense of guilt. That is a very powerful thing that a lot of people take for granted. How complex our minds are is probably the most important thing to take away from this film because it is never revealed if it these events are taking place in our good doctor's head or if it is a demonic presence. Surely, nobody else sees what she sees, so the other characters believe she has lost her shit... And, well, yeah. She has.

You cannot make a good movie without a good cast and that is why the casting for this is A+ all around. Every character in this movie that is on camera is so fucking good, I have no idea how describe it any finer than “perfect” and that is super hard to pull off, so hats off to Sosie Bacon (yes, the daughter of Kevin Bacon & Kyra Sedgwick) who really carries a film with so much talent enhancing the story in every scene. It's unbelievable. Also, highlight performances from my boy Kyle Gallner, as her ex-boyfriend/police officer and Robin Weigert as her own personal therapist. Some of those scenes are unforgettable.

I feel like I am writing a paper for some post-graduate course, but maybe that is what this is. I cannot really say too much more about it without giving away plot points and the reasoning behind them without betraying the overall structure of this well-constructed screenplay. It gives nothing away that is not meant to be and it tracks so logically for a movie working with such delicate narration.

I gotta stop loving this movie. Other films are going to get jealous. I do not know how to end this, but let's just say it did extremely well ($217.4 million against a $17 million dollar budget) garnering itself a worldwide release, a sequel, and a whole franchise for years to come.

It could not happen to a better movie.

4.5 Out Of 5