Title – Smile 2 (2024) 

Director – Parker Finn (Smile)

Cast – Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Ray Nicholson

Plot – Following directly on from the events of the first film, troubled popstar Skye Riley (Scott) discovers a dark and menacing presence in her life after she witnesses a traumatic suicide, setting in motion a series of increasingly concerning events that threaten her and those around her.  

“You’re not in control, I am!”

Review by Eddie on 08/11/2024

A direct sequel to 2022’s Smile, one of recent memories more surprisingly well reviewed box office success stories, original creator/director Parker Finn is back for more with his ramped up Smile 2, another far better than it should be studio horror that marks down star Naomi Scott’s moment before superstardom at the same time. 

Opening with one of the years most memorable single segments, from the get-go there’s little too be concerned about when it comes to fears of a major drop off in quality control with what could have easily been another sad and sorry example of a desperate Hollywood cash-grab at some low hanging horror fruit with Smile 2 ensuring the wins of the first entry into this property continue on here as we follow a seemingly doomed quest by Scott’s popstar Skye Riley to rid herself of a demonic presence that has attached itself too her following a grisly suicide she witnesses. 

A troubled soul who was already dealing with her own more personal and less bloodthirsty demons before the nefarious “smiling” being decided to latch itself too her, Riley makes for a great character to be battling Finn’s devilishly delicious creation and with Finn unafraid to take Smile 2 into some very dark and twisted territory (making the first films horror elements seem like child’s play in comparison) and Scott whole heartedly committed to her most prominent leading turn yet, Smile 2 offers up a range of fantastically deranged entertainment despite some lulls across its slightly too long running time. 

Having her moments in the likes of box office smash real life adaptation Aladdin and the ill advised Charlie’s Angel reimaging from 2019, it’s taken some time but you get a sense that Scott is going to be winning a lot of fans from general punters and industry pundits for her turn here. 

Asked to do a lot, equivalent to the workload of Florence Pugh in Midsommar and Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch, Scott is a revelation here as a tortured soul attempting to right past wrongs while also battling entirely new and unforeseen threats and while she gets some solid support from the likes of Rosemarie DeWitt as her long-suffering mother Elizabeth and son of Jack Ray Nicholson as her unfortunate past acquittance Paul Hudson, Smile 2 is really the Scott show and she’s more than up for the task, relishing the chance to go all in on a significantly layered role. 

While there’s a lot on display here that is stereotypical Hollywood genre box ticking, Finn’s evolution behind the camera nicely matches Scott’s feisty turn in front of the camera with the filmmaker instilling his effort here with numerous moments of creativity and artistic flair that culminate in one of the years most wild end games that is sure to create a significant amount of expectation of what could come next in a series that is seemingly set on continuing to defy expectations given to it. 

Final Say – 

Proving that the original Smile’s surprise success was no one off, Smile 2 is another impressively above average entry into the Hollywood horror space that ensures hype around its leading lady and director should remain high into the near future. 

3 1/2 Voss water bottles out of 5