As someone who has had their fair share of brushes with fame and mental health struggles, I found “Smile 2” to be a hauntingly relatable journey that doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities of both. Naomi Scott’s performance as Skye Riley is nothing short of mesmerizing, capturing the raw emotion and turmoil that comes with battling addiction in the public eye. The film’s exploration of fame and its impact on mental health is as chilling as it is poignant, offering a rare insight into the pressures that come with being in the spotlight.
2022’s film “Smile,” penned and directed by Parker Finn, took me aback. It’s a stark, somber portrayal of society’s treatment towards individuals battling severe mental health issues, cloaked as gruesome supernatural horror. The initial release seemed to have taken Paramount off guard too, with the planned streaming debut scrapped following excellent test screenings. The movie’s success, given its bleak subject matter and absence of any cheer or happy ending, is somewhat astonishing. What might be unexpected about “Smile 2” is that despite its increased profile as Paramount aims to establish it as a series, it doesn’t feel sanitized or diluted compared to the original.
As someone captivated by “Smile,” I’d like to explain the chilling concept for newcomers: The curse, once witnessed in death, is inherited by the last person who saw the deceased alive. This triggers a six-day countdown during which the cursed individual experiences vivid visions and acts destructively without control. It brilliantly mirrored the challenges of living with an enigmatic condition that others struggle to understand, resonating deeply with my own experiences. However, the curse didn’t provide a blueprint for stories exploring subsequent victims who bear the burden.
Fame is nothing to smile about
This is Skye Riley, a Miley Cyrus-esque wild-child-turned-good who, in a nifty bit of meta casting, is played by another former Disney star, Naomi Scott. After canceling a tour a year prior, following a car crash that claimed the life of her partner (Ray Nicholson), Skye is clean from drugs and alcohol and ready to take to the stage again. However, she’s harboring a secret addiction to pain medication since the accident, and it puts her life in jeopardy in a completely different way after a fatal visit to her dealer Lewis (Lukas Gage), who was cursed six days prior. The conundrum for Skye isn’t just whether she can survive the Smile Entity, but whether she can maintain a reformed public persona when all signs — such as the amount of drugs at the crime scene — point toward a relapse.
In a nod to real-life tabloid stories about famous women struggling with addiction, Parker Finn portrays Skye as if she’s a time bomb ready to explode, even when there’s no evidence of this. The hardships Skye faces are deliberately severe, shaping her interactions and leaving her with no hope of escape – yet the writer-director skillfully avoids exploiting her struggles, offering no easy way out. This is a recurring pattern in the “Smile” series: it’s one of the few Hollywood franchises that tackles mental health issues with genuine compassion while also subjecting its main character to extreme violence confined within her own mind. There are no other contemporary studio horror films featuring such challenging roles for young actresses, and none put them through as much without any fault of their own – but it’s the unrelenting portrayal of Skye’s suffering that allows the film to explore the pressures placed on women in the public eye.
Just as thrilling, but much messier than the first
In the second installment of this series, there are some initial challenges as the story expands from a smaller setting to a larger one. For instance, Skye doesn’t discover the curse until late in the story, which is revealed through an expository character who might not have been necessary. It would be unfair and cruel for the protagonist to remain unaware of the curse and believe she’s experiencing a severe mental breakdown. The director, Parker Finn, aims to ensure his films aren’t punishing experiences. However, it seems difficult for him to find a smooth way to link events together. In the original “Smile,” Sosie Bacon’s character could comprehend the curse due to a detective friend who could research prior cases; in this sequel, Skye learns about the curse unexpectedly and in a rather contrived manner. This is one of the few aspects where it’s clear that the first film wasn’t intended for sequels, despite its appealing premise—the lore behind the Smile Entity can’t be easily inherited when subsequent victims typically have no connection to the last.
Another point to consider is that Finn frequently employs a technique of surprising twists, which can leave viewers feeling like they’ve walked on a rug with too many unexpected turns. While this method can be incredibly effective, as demonstrated in the last movie, it’s overused here, making it easy for the audience to guess what’s coming before the intended surprise unfolds. In the heat of the moment, these twists can be exhilarating, creating a sense of instability and uncertainty about the story’s ending. However, many of these moments lose their impact after the excitement subsides, with the trick working only when it strengthens the film’s dual themes about the pitfalls of fame and recovery, pushing Skye into a more vulnerable state. Compared to Bacon’s performance in the first “Smile,” Naomi Scott’s leading role is crucial this time around, as it anchors every twist in Skye’s own emotional turmoil, portraying her despair at her inability to control her own downward spiral and her fear of becoming the troubled diva she never wanted to become.
If “Smile 2” offers the same level of enjoyment as the initial one, credit goes to Scott for effectively maintaining a narrative that could have collapsed under the burden of numerous unexpected twists. His character’s development underscores that the true power of the “Smile” series doesn’t primarily lie in its most terrifying moments (despite what the director might argue). However, while “Smile 2” does not ignore this aspect, it is noticeably more focused on creating an unsettling atmosphere compared to the previous installment.
“Smile 2” creeps into theaters on October 18.
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2024-10-16 16:30