‘Smile 2’ Is Something To Grin About | Movie Review

Smile 2

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Smile 2 is the next chapter of the original ‘Smile’, which was a surprise success and had one of the most memorable marketing campaigns of the year it came out.

‘Smile 2’ follows global pop sensation Sky Riley (Naomi Scott) who is preparing for a world tour after recovering from substance cause following a tragedy. When a terrifying encounter leaves her questioning her reality, Sky must revisit her past and find a cure for a sickness that seems to be following her every move. While the first film felt a bit conventional for its story and jump scare usage, ‘Smile 2’ improves its horror to be not only for beginner horror fans but for seasoned ones like myself.

Naomi Scott embodies Sky Riley. With her profession being so public-facing, having a demonic parasite in the form of anyone around her is an incredible step up in fear. You immediately empathize with Sky as she embraces fan after fan as they come up to her for signatures and photo ops, some of them potentially being stalkers without her even knowing before having to interact with them. I love how they fully utilize her career with the horror, and all of it is in service to Naomi Scott’s performance.

This feels like Naomi Scott’s ‘Hereditary’, in which Toni Collette delivers just as powerful a performance as Scott that should be considered for nominations this year. One could argue the quality difference in both stories, but both performances are indisputably masterful. You can tell an increase in budget was applied directly to what you see on screen, as it always should be with sequels that are given more resources. The scale of scares is larger, and you feel that in the cinematography, camerawork, and sets.

I have similar issues with this sequel as I did with the first, an over-reliance of jump scares ends up numbing the quality of them throughout the runtime. Also, some certain setups and twists are exactly like the first film, and I wish for all the creativity being brought to the sequel the director had found a new way to scare that wasn’t bringing back something you can easily predict the second time.

Overall, ‘Smile 2’ delivers more effective horror and suspense with a stronger cast and powerhouse leading performance. This is one that is worth seeing with a crowd and is certainly good for the Halloween season.

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