WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Smile and Smile 2.
Trauma has always been a staple of the horror genre. In his classic (1977) novel The Shining, Stephen King wrote, “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” No modern genre creator embodies the darker side of this aphorism like Parker Finn. The writer/director’s burgeoning Smile franchise brings suffering to life with an apparition that feeds on the pain we carry inside us. And unlike the more hopeful messages in modern trauma allegories, Finn’s monsters too often emerge victorious.
Smile follows Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), a psychiatrist who works long hours helping her patients to avoid addressing her own mental health. When Rose witnesses a particularly brutal suicide, she becomes the new target for a terrifying creature that delights in twisting her sense of reality. This cruel beast exacerbates the guilt she’s been carrying since her mother’s tragic death while poisoning the relationships she turns to for help. Several weeks later, this malevolent infection spreads to Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a pop star struggling to recover from a deadly car crash while embarking on a massive comeback tour. Latching onto this vulnerable performer, the entity begins playing with her own recent trauma while systematically tearing her life apart.
Both films are masterful yet terrifying metaphors for the burden of mental illness and the social expectation to grin and bear it no matter the cost. But which smile feels more devastating? And which woman’s story strikes more successfully at the heart of our own deepest fears?
We first glimpse the titular expression in what feels like the safest of places. Rose has an impromptu intake session with a disturbed young woman brought into her ward. Laura (Caitlin Stasey) hides in the corner of the pleasantly staged room, seemingly frightened of an unseen being she claims has been tormenting her since witnessing a suicide days before. Rose tries to reassure the skittish grad student when she’s seemingly choked by invisible hands. Her demeanor quickly changes and Laura turns around to reveal a sinister smile stretching across her face. With a shard of broken plastic, she slices a gaping wound across her neck to mimic the unsettling expression.
Skye catches the beast’s attention while trying to buy vicodin after a long day of painful rehearsal. She stops by the apartment of Lewis (Lukas Gage), a high school acquaintance, only to find him in the grips of delusion. After a few uncomfortable moments, Lewis begins cowering under the presence of an invisible ghoul Skye can feel just over her shoulder. An instant later, his horrified face twists into a predatory smile. Lukas repeatedly smashes his head with a heavy weight plate, crushing his features into a bloody mess.
Winner: Smile
The slow destruction of Lewis’s face is admittedly terrifying, but nothing can prepare us for the moment when Laura’s demeanor changes. Her disturbing sneer never falters even when she’s opening the skin of her neck and bleeding to death on the hospital floor. This horrific death both shocks and upsets while setting the tone for a bleak horror franchise.
Rose attempts to recover from this destabilizing incident with a quiet evening at home. But the sudden blaring of her security system shatters this fragile moment of peace. A call from the alarm company quickly sours when the friendly operator asks, “Are you sure you haven’t let something into the house, Rose?” before ominously suggesting she look behind her. Just as she’s turning around, the phone rings again and Rose realizes her hand is empty. She’s imagined the unsettling conversation.
Finn’s second chapter in the harrowing franchise explores trauma filtered through the lens of worldwide celebrity. While preparing for her tour, Skye conducts a meet and greet where strangers approach her for quick conversations and staged photos. She balks when an intense man requests the word “love” when signing a souvenir T-shirt. After a few inappropriate comments, he advances on her, insisting that only he can cure her sadness. Security drags the screaming man away, while Skye takes a moment to recover behind the curtain then emerges to greet a long line of similar strangers. Later that night, she notices the yellow T-shirt stretched out across her living room floor. Skye follows a trail of discarded clothing which leads to the fan standing naked at the end of her darkened hallway.
Winner: Smile 2
The dismantling of Rose’s first line of protection may be ominous, but Skye’s encounter with this dangerous fan is pure nightmare fuel. As a public figure, not only could this terrifying incident actually happen, but similar stalkers have taken the lives of real celebrities. It’s a frighteningly plausible scenario that could be the monster or another terrifying drawback to fame and fortune.
In addition to destroying Rose’s sense of reality, this bogeyman delights in stripping away her supportive relationships. At a birthday party thrown by her sister, the frazzled doctor watches her nephew’s delighted gaze turn to horror as he opens her present. Rather than a toy train, the box contains the dead body of her missing cat. Rose clutches her beloved pet while screaming at a girl in the corner wearing the tell-tale grin. When this inhuman party-goer—invisible to everyone else—appears just inches away, Rose trips and falls through a glass coffee table. The guests stare in horror as she emerges with shards of glass protruding from both arms.
Skye deals with a similar moment of public embarrassment when she’s guilted into performing at a charity event for disadvantaged teens. With lipstick smeared across her face, the reluctant pop star must ad lib her remarks when the teleprompter freezes. The script finally begins rolling and Skye inadvertently welcomes her dead boyfriend Paul Hudson (Ray Nicholson) to the stage before noticing his ghost staring at her from one of the lavish tables. He approaches with a hideous smile as the pop star screams in front of the confused audience now using their cell phones to record her misery. An elderly woman reaches out to guide her offstage, but Skye reacts to her vision of Paul and sends the woman careening through the air and crashing into the table below.
Winner: Smile 2
While Rose’s ordeal is no doubt mortifying, it can’t compare with the scale of Skye’s humiliation. Videos of the incident quickly go viral, threatening her reputation on the worldwide stage. Adding insult to injury, not one person at either party steps in to help. By gawking at both Rose and Skye, these judgmental onlookers do the creature’s bidding and assists in the ruination of both women’s lives.
After the disastrous birthday party, Rose tries to make amends with her sister Holly (Gillian Zinser). In a tearful conversation, they discuss the source of Rose’s childhood trauma—the childhood discovery of her mother’s dead body. The conversation devolves into bitter accusations and Rose retreats to her car. But moments later, Holly reappears poised to apologize. Rose prepares to roll down the window when Holly’s head suddenly drops, grinning at her sister with a hideously distended neck.
In the wake of her own mortification, Skye begins to pack her bags, likely planning to flee the city. Emerging from the bathroom, she’s stopped by her backup dancers somehow crowded into the narrow hallway. Each time she looks away, they change positions, seeming to defy the laws of gravity. Mirrors amplify this terror as the smiling dancers slowly descend on the frightened singer, becoming more violent with each step.
Winner: Smile 2
This one is no contest. Holly’s shocking head drop may represent the first step into a terrifying new phase of Rose’s torment, but Finn outdoes himself with this shocking dance sequence. Not only does the sinister choreography blend style and terror, the set piece perfectly encapsulates Skye’s growing fear that everyone she knows is turning against her.
Though her circumstances are dire, Rose does have someone she can turn to for help and schedules an impromptu session with her therapist Dr. Northcott (Robin Weigert). After a home visit turns sour, the therapist stops by again, essentially threatening Rose with commitment if she doesn’t comply. As they’re talking, the phone rings. The real Dr.Northcott has just called to check on Rose. The frightened young woman slowly drops the phone as the grinning monster begins to chase her through the house.
Skye also seems poised to finally get help when she wakes up in a posh recovery center. Her mother Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt) has cleared her schedule and taken her phone, insisting she use the day to relax. But this peaceful respite quickly curdles as mother and daughter begin to fight about the upcoming tour. Rose begs for more time off while Elizabeth bluntly reminds her of the stakes. The world will not give her a third chance and if she backs out now, they’ll both be on the hook for millions of dollars. While detailing this grim reality, Elizabeth smashes a mirror with her fist and begins stabbing her face with a shard of glass. Skye slowly rips the IV out of her arm as she tries to escape the fiend now wearing her mother’s shredded face. Moments before rushing out into the hall, she’s shocked to find the jagged weapon in her own hand. Skye is covered in her mother’s blood just feet away from the brutalized body.
Winner: Smile 2
Both scenes feature cruel betrayals of trust and supportive relationships that descend into hell. However, it’s Elizabeth’s gory demise that wins this round. Not only must we watch her grin while stabbing and ripping out her own eye, this grisly death serves as a point of no return for her unfortunate daughter.
The centerpieces of both films involve harrowing excavations of each woman’s initial trauma. Hoping to avoid passing on the curse, Rose drives out to her childhood home—an abandoned shack on deserted land. Entering the back bedroom, she remembers finding her mother unresponsive in bed. We learn that Rose did not find her mother’s dead body, but refused help when the dying woman begged for the phone. Finally confronting the worst moment of her life, Rose attempts to release herself from the overwhelming guilt. But her mother begins grinning and growing in size, insisting that Rose will never escape her nightmarish past.
Skye’s story also climaxes with a terrifying return to her most painful memory. After an industry event, she and Paul argue while speeding down a dark mountain road. Clearly high, they scream cruelties at each other, ramping up their outrage with each passing mile. Devastated by Paul’s hurtful remarks, Skye grabs the steering wheel and sends the car careening off a cliff. She awakens trapped upside down in the ruined car next to her boyfriend’s shattered skull.
Winner: Smile 2
The closest battle yet, Finn’s nightmarish direction propels this car sequence to victory. Close camera work brings a terrifying intimacy to this upsetting scene and pulls us into the speeding vehicle as well as the doomed couple’s soul-crushing argument.
Confronting her most painful memory seems to give Rose newfound strength. As the vision of her mother grows in size and monstrosity, Rose smashes a lantern into its face and watches the demon burst into flames. Relieved, she drives away under the morning sun and soon arrives at her ex-boyfriend’s door. Rose explains to Joel (Kyle Gallner) that her traumatic past caused her to sabotage their relationship. She apologizes then cryptically asks for forgiveness. Joel at first seems moved by her confession, but darkness creeps over this tender scene. With a slow smile spreading across his face, Joel insists that he will stay with her … forever. Rose discovers that she never left her childhood home and this cathartic conversation was all in her head.
Skye is similarly deceived by Morris (Peter Jacobson), a helpful nurse determined to seek revenge on the horrific monster. His plan involves stopping Skye’s heart then resuscitating her several minutes later, hoping to kill the beast along with its host. But Morris excuses himself at a critical moment and Skye finds herself trapped in the walk-in freezer of an abandoned restaurant with the creature who now wears the skin of her own bleeding body once pulled from the crash. Skye jams Morris’s syringe into her neck, hoping to at least die on her own terms. After momentarily screaming in frustration at Skye’s victory, the hideous creature begins to laugh. Skye once again realizes that her hand is empty. There never was a Morris nor a plan to escape.
Winner: Smile
As we near the climax of Finn’s first franchise installment, we hold onto hope that Rose can still save herself. She’s released her guilt, accepted her pain, and can begin anew with the love of her life. Joel’s villainous smirk feels like a gut punch as our last bit of optimism drains away. Not only has Rose not escaped, but she’s pulled Joel into her misery and now stands poised to pass him the curse.
Rose dashes back into the house and locks the door with Joel on her heels. Inside, she watches the growing phantom rip off her mom’s face to reveal rows of humanoid teeth protruding from ragged jaws. Joel breaks down the door just a moment too late. The ghoul has crawled into Rose’s mouth and caused her to douse herself with lighter fluid. She slowly turns to reveal a hideous smile then lights a match and sets her body ablaze. We see this gruesome death reflected in Joel’s eyes as he inherits the devastating curse.
Having failed to defeat the monster, Skye finds herself pushed into a cocoon-like enclosure which opens to reveal a packed arena expecting her to sing. Standing onstage and wearing her skin, the creature rips open Skye’s abdominal scar before crawling inside her gaping mouth. Moments later, the pop star arises to the delight of her thousands of fans. Finn turns the camera towards the audience who suddenly begin to scream in terror as an unseen death plays out onstage. We eventually see that Skye has impaled her face with the microphone she tried so hard to reject.
Winner: Smile
Finn ups the ante in his second film, presenting thousands of concertgoers now infected with the deadly curse. But the immense tragedy of his first conclusion can’t be topped. Joel has done everything he can to help Rose and now finds his good deeds punished with unthinkable pain.
Rose does find one surefire way to outsmart the curse. She must murder someone before a witness, intentionally causing as much pain as she can. Though Rose balks at killing another human being, she returns to work with a hidden knife. Confronting a troubled patient named Carl (Jack Sochet), she prepares to strike as her supervisor Dr. Desai (Kal Penn) bursts into the room. Now that she has a witness, Rose stabs Carl with the large kitchen knife multiple times. But something is wrong. Carl continues to grin while Dr. Desai begins to rip off his own face. This slim chance at salvation is only a dream.
Smile 2 begins by reuniting us with the unfortunate Joel six days after Rose’s horrific death. Hoping to succeed where she once failed, he’s found a career criminal to witness a murder. But this plan goes awry and Joel inadvertently passes the curse on to Lewis who happens to be buying drugs at the worst possible time. Joel narrowly escapes his victim’s criminal associates before darting into the path of an oncoming truck. Finn slowly reveals this upsetting scene—Joel’s blood and viscera have been smeared all over the road, forming the shape of a crude smile.
Winner: Smile 2
This opening fulfills the deadly promise at the end of Finn’s first film. Joel may have avoided the monster, but his grim death serves as a harbinger for the horrors to come. As he walks towards this dangerous plan, Joel spies a vision of Rose still burning on the snowy lawn, hinting at the torment he must have experienced over the last six days and the hell awaiting anyone who falls into the clutches of this grief-eating monster.
For those keeping track, the final count is Smile: 3 to Smile 2: 6. Though both films pack a shattering punch, Finn fills his second franchise entry with gory horror, disturbing set pieces, and horrific jump scares on a much larger scale. While nothing can compare with the quiet devastation of Rose’s unthinkable trauma, Smile 2 unleashes a tidal wave of stylish terror while pulling us into the grips of another horrific nightmare.
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