This article contains mild spoilers for “Smile 2.”
As I write this article, the third installment of the gore-laden “Terrifier” series is obliterating the competition at the box office, a win for independent film, extreme horror, and non-studio-owned IP everywhere. Lifelong horror fans are no strangers to films with the same levels of ultraviolence and blood-soaked mania on glorious display, but these scenes are overwhelmingly found in independent or underground horror movies. This isn’t to say that studio-backed horror films are incapable of bringing the pain, but even looking at something as notoriously grisly as the “Saw” series, the graphic depictions are stylized. Shots of dismembered limbs or meat being torn from the bone are interspersed between adventurous camera movement, cleverly spaced reactions to the carnage, and juuuuust enough of the gruesome goodies to throw the audience’s imagination into overdrive. It’s taking a page out of Alfred Hitchcock’s handbook of movie magic illusions but with a hell of a lot more corn syrup and latex.
Studio horror movies don’t shy away from gore by any means, but they tend not to linger the way independent horror movies or direct-to-streaming scare-fests tend to — which is why the grossest death scene in “Smile 2” is so shocking because it feels bolder, bloodier, and more direct than the usual big budget fare, with director Parker Finn refusing to let the audience look away from the merciless, self-inflicted destruction. It’s like the Smile Entity watched “Evil Dead Rise” over spring break and thought, “Damn, those Deadites had some great ideas, time to try one out on a cute drug dealer who specializes in party pills and cocaine.”
Lukas Gage faces the weight of a trauma demon
While “Smile 2” centers on pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), the relentlessly good sequel (read our review here) picks up six days after the end of the first film, with a now infected Joel (Kyle Gallner) doing his best to pass on the curse by killing some criminals. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned and Joel inadvertently passes the Entity onto Lewis (Lukas Gage), a low-level drug dealer who was picking up supplies from the criminals when Joel’s murder party went awry and he winds up pulverized by a truck driving by. Joel’s blood and entrails paint the street of the accident, with the camera tracking the trail of the truck to reveal body parts, chunks of skin and muscle, and eventually, Joel’s severed body. It’s a hell of a way to open a film and sets the tone for the mayhem to come.
Now infected, Lewis dies by suicide in front of customer Skye Riley by repeatedly bashing his face in with a weight plate. The trailer for “Smile 2” showed the impact and immediately cut away from the facial decimation, so many audiences likely anticipated that the film would do something similar. After all, in the first “Smile” movie when Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey) passes it onto Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), she carves her face and throat with a broken piece of glass before the camera immediately cuts to Rose’s reaction. By the time the camera returns to Laura, she’s already lying on the ground in a pool of blood, smiling. It’s a jarring visual, to be sure, but it’s training wheels compared to what Lewis does to his own face.
Three is the magic number
The sound of Lewis smashing his face with the weight plate is bound to spark a visceral reaction from viewers, but the camera refuses to pull away as he reveals the mangled mess of flesh, broken bones, and shattered teeth still forcing a megawatt smile. I half-expected him to slump over to the side as Laura did in the first film, but then Lewis smashed himself again … and again … both times revealing an increasingly mangled face. And the camera doesn’t pull away. It lingers on Lewis’ face, giving the audience ample time to examine the way his face distorts between each bit of impact.
What has broken? What is out of line? How the hell is he still SMILING?! His crushed-in cranial is shown with vivid brutality, so much so that it made me forget for a minute that this is a studio-backed movie with a $28 million budget. Writer/director Parker Finn kicking things up a notch for the sequel is totally understandable, considering “Smile” was originally meant to premiere on the Paramount+ streaming service but wisely went to theaters and became one of the biggest films of 2022. I expected bigger set pieces, especially with the pop star protagonist, but I was genuinely shocked at how willing the film was to go there when it came to the death scenes.
But the effectiveness of the scene lies with Lukas Gage’s performance who is, by my accounts, someone poised to break through into blockbuster superstardom if he wants it. Known for roles in “The White Lotus,” “How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” the criminally underseen “Down Low,” and set to star in the buzzy “Companion” from the producers who gave us “Barbarian,” Gage’s face and smile were practically manufactured by a mad scientist to fit in the “Smile” universe perfectly. Gage’s face fluctuates from golden retriever sweetness, manic paranoia you can’t help but feel sorry for, and a menacing grin at the drop of a hat. And watching him annihilate his pretty face makes a strong case for one of the best death scenes of the year.
“Smile 2” is now playing in theaters everywhere.
This post was originally published on here
