Smile 2 – Movie Review (4/5)

SMILE 2 is out in theaters and you’re in for a delicious horror treat! That horrible smile is back and everything is crazier and wilder than before. Most horror fans should be smiling when watching this. Read our full Smile 2 review here!

SMILE 2 is finally here, and you’re getting the chance to watch a solid horror film. If you’ve watched the trailer for Smile 2, you should already have a good idea of how the pace has been turned up a notch. Or ten!

While the first Smile from 2022 was more of a horror-drama in the build-up, this continuation is like a slap in the face. There is no time to relax and the jump scares alone are worth the price of the ticket!

Continue reading our review of Smile 2 below. Find it in US theaters from October 18, 2024.

Absurdly well-timed jump scares

With Smile 2, we’re getting a horror movie where every single element we came to know in the first movie has been given a boost. Get ready to enjoy to most intense jump scares that are absurdly well-timed. Not teased so you’ll see them coming. Okay, maybe some of them, but certainly not all.

Also, prepare for snot, eczema, bones, teeth, and blood. A LOT of blood!

The story of Smile 2 begins six days after the end of the first Smile movie. And yes, I would recommend rewatching the first one, but it’s not an absolute must. Once the story of this Smile sequel takes off, Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is the protagonist.

She is a superstar singer-songwriter heading out on a world tour after a tough year.

Unfortunately, she suddenly finds herself caught up in a strange world where people smile grimly at her with that distinct madness in their eyes. Skye Riley does not have time for any damn curse nonsense due to her upcoming world tour.

Also, if she even hints at wanting to drop or postpone her world tour, there’s someone ready to tell her why that just is not possible.

Of course, the work pressure Skye Riley is under also increases the pressure and seems to fuel the horror smile curse. She’s under so much pressure, and as a recovering addict has no way to silence or calm the crazy. And yet, she isn’t ready to give up and wants to fight back!

Naomi Scott is bloody amazing!

With Naomi Scott in the role of Skye Riley, we get a protagonist who is both afraid and refuses to surrender. It’s that classic duality that makes iconic horror characters. The ability to acknowledge how terrible and scary everything is, while also deciding to keep going anyway.

And what is the alternative anyway? Surrendering to that demonic smile?! No thanks!

It’s not that Naomi Scott has done much in terms of horror before, but I hope this will change because she is bloody amazing in Smile 2! Sure, many people found Will Smith creepy as the blue genie in Disney’s Aladdin, which she starred in, but that’s as close to horror as she’s gotten before.

However, if there’s one thing we horror fans love, it’s our cool ScreamQueens and Final Girls. In fact, even a great supporting role in a horror movie can lead to a solid career in horror. Just think of Courtney Cox in the Scream movies.

Among the newer horror darlings, we have Maika Monroe (It Follows, Watcher, Longlegs), Lupita Nyong’o (Us, A Quiet Place: Day One), and Samara Weaving (The Babysitter, Ready or Not, Azrael).

And Naomi Scott could easily be among them if she continues with genre films. She’s certainly off to a great start, so I really hope she does. She’s giving it her all for Smile 2 and it makes the movie so much better.

If she looks at Neve Campbell, Jamie Lee Curtis, and even Ellen Burstyn’s still-active careers based on their horror hits, she can see how she’s guaranteed a career for life, if she wants to. I mean, Ellen Burstyn was over 90 years old in the latest The Exorcist movie.

Watch Smile 2 in theaters!

Just as with the first Smile movie, Parker Finn has both written and directed this sequel as well. It’s always preferable when the original filmmaker remains on board. Especially when talking about these new and unique stories rather than remakes.

I do not want to hate on remakes or requels – as a rule, I try to stay open-minded. However, these new and original horror movies are just wonderful surprises. Within the last few years, we have been spoiled with A Quiet Place, Talk to Me, and Smile.

What all three above titles have in common is that they’ve all had (or will have) sequels, so horror fans clearly welcome these original stories. The runtime is just over two hours (2 hours and 7 minutes) for Smile 2, and while that may sound long, it fits the story nicely.

Time will tell whether there will be a Smile 3. Maybe Smile 3 could also delve into an origin story since it doesn’t come here. There’s more background story on how the curse works, but not the origin of it. Not that it matters, as this sequel really nails it on the overall horror front.

I’ll be the first to admit that I hope we get a Smile 3. Not least considering how Smile 2 ends. That ending alone offers plenty of “ammunition” for yet another story!

Smile 2 is out in US theaters from October 18, 2024.

Details

In Theaters: October 18, 2024
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Director: Parker Finn
Writer: Parker Finn
Cast: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo, Dylan Gelula, Ray Nicholson