Consider turning the societal symbol of happiness on its head. Flipping a facial mannerism from a friendly gesture to a sinister indication of impending demise.
“Smile 2” promises such a premise on the big screen; however, with the horror flick being almost completely unrelated to the first film, as well as a muddled script and a confusing fever dream of a plot, this Parker Finn-directed movie leaves much to be desired on various characters, plot progression and story-related facets.
The film follows protagonist Skye Riley, a fame-burdened singer who struggles with immense pressures stemming from her life as a well-known celebrity, as well as being a recovering substance abuser, maintaining a relationship with her domineering mother, and facing a haunting memory of incidentally killing with her then-boyfriend in a car crash.
Riley fights through these obstacles on top of her constant attempt at escaping the main antagonist of the film; a mysterious demon that presents itself to her in the warped smiles of people she sees throughout the day.
After fighting through countless attacks by the demon, including Skye being forced to (seemingly) kill her own mom. The end of the movie shows Skye being deceived by the demon and revealing that the majority of the movie’s runtime was no more than a twisted figment of Riley’s imagination.
Soon after this realization, she is completely overtaken by the antagonist and ends up dying in front of thousands of her fans, as well as her completely alive mother, in the final shot of the film.
“Smile 2” contained little to nothing from the first movie, apart from using the original title’s male protagonist survivor, Joel in the opening scene, to which he died abruptly to end the movie’s cold open. Along with the 5–10minute survival time of Joel, there are several references and tie ins to the first movie, but that covers most of the relation to the original “Smile” movie.
The main story progression was heavily driven by Skye Riley’s attempt to escape her guilt, which at first makes for an effective plotline; that is, until the viewer is forced to accept that Riley’s entire character arc, a drug-addicted celebrity who purposely caused a fatal car crash, turned fighter who desperately tries to take back her life and protect those around her, was all in her own head and that the movie’s main plot really only carried a few concrete events (that weren’t in Skye’s imagination.)
This monumental and surreal plot twist gives viewers another realization: that they could have saved themselves watching an entire movie had they realized that Riley (in real time events) did not survive much longer than a throwaway side character.
The follow up film to the successful predecessor originally had many viewers anticipating a riveting sequel that challenged the survivor of the first film to push himself to his limits to rid himself of the evil that haunted him; however, the story that followed Joel’s, “Smile’s” protagonist, surprising early demise proved to be little more than a lackluster side story that scrapped the smaller scale artistry of the first film and traded it for an expansive and brain bending tale that made the viewer question everything they saw from the start to finish.
While this could potentially work as a plot for certain movies, the unestablished protagonists of the completely redone cast made for a story and ending that did not cut nearly as deep as the filmmakers intended it to. In conclusion, “Smile 2” left no more than a grimace on the face of those who paid money to see it.