Smile 2 (2024)

Score: 4 / 5

Not unlike its clear muse, It Follows, this film opens with a survivor from the first film attempting to rid himself of a haunt or curse. Kyle Gallner's Joel, miserable and fearful after what happened to him in the first film, attempts to pass on the curse in a controlled environment to people who he deems deserving of it: murderous criminals who, unfortunately, botch his plan. The curse is passed on to a drug dealer shortly before Joel is killed in a horrific and violent accident. With this leftover element from before smartly dispatched, writer and director Parker Finn is able to move on to a new story.

Part of the power of Smile is that it's never really clear what the entity is or why it hunts who it does; the only real question is how its victims might outsmart its modus operandi. Enter pop star Skye Riley, whose public struggle with substance abuse and the recent death of her boyfriend has primed her for what is sure to be a fabulous comeback tour. Stressed and frayed, she sneaks out from the watchful and controlling supervision of her mother/manager (can we all collectively just say "yikes" about that relationship) to buy drugs from her dealer. Which is to say the same drug dealer who, in the opening sequence, is now haunted. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am, one thing leads to another and Skye ends up witnessing a smiling suicide so violent and shocking that she'd probably be fucked up for life even without any supernatural antagonist marking her as its next target.

One of the coolest and most unexpected things about Finn's first film was how it fit into the burgeoning subgenre of horror films that deal with mental illnesses as supernatural forces. In Finn's case, and a select few others, it's not using mental illness as a horror trope but rather considering its implications in a highly fictional way that seems aimed at making its symptoms understandable and relatable to your average audience member who may not be afflicted as such. That is still present in his sequel, but the focus has shifted. Here, the mental illness aspect takes a slight backseat to the effect of fame, constant supervision, addiction, and grief on the human mind and spirit. Skye, a blossoming pop star, is dealing with stressors we can scarcely relate to, but Finn makes sure that we're aware of our complicity in her suffering: our commodification of celebrity and specifically musical artists is certainly no help to them, despite the money they're raking in. Scott's performance here is -- much like Sosie Bacon's in the first film -- an astonishing experience to behold, brutally physical and determined to inject every ounce of complicated emotion into each scene, each tear, each scream. Since her excellent turn in Aladdin, I've been hoping she'd make a break doing something different than the trash she's used to being part of, and this is surely, finally, it.

One element of the mysterious and deadly Smile Entity made a bit more clear in this film is its parasitic nature. Once it latches on, it feeds off your trauma and insecurities, taking perverse pleasure in your horrified reactions to its predatory hallucinations. You can never quite be sure -- like in Mike Flanagan's Oculus -- if what you're seeing is real or not, but it all feels real, and that's why it's so horrifying. Our tight focus on Skye means that we're experiencing her visions with her, often seeing her react in painful close-up to reality morphing into nightmares before her waking eyes.

Much like the first film, unnervingly effective sound editing and special effects make this material some of the freshest horror available right now. Between pitch-perfect direction, beautiful production design (here much bigger and more exciting than before), brave acting from a leading female star, smart writing, and clear passion from every angle, Smile 2 is one of the best horror sequels out there. And while it ultimately fumbles some of its thematic threads, it never quite fouls them, leading us to a devastating climax that I earnestly hope allows Finn back into this world so he can continue to surprise us with brilliant and terrifying stories in this perverse world he's created. Knowing now that he wasn't a one-hit wonder, I can only eagerly await what fresh hell he delivers next.