Smile is a 2022 American supernatural horror film directed by Parker Finn and the cast includes Sosie Bacon, Kyle Gallner, Caitlin Stasey, Jessie T. Usher, Kal Penn, Rob Morgan, Robin Weigert, Judy Reyes and Gillian Zinser.
My Thoughts On Smile
A curse passed along through a simple grin. It’s almost absurd when you say it out loud: “someone smiles, they die, and now you’re next.” And that's the premise of Smile, featuring Dr. Rose Cotter, who is a mental health professional, and when she meets her patient Laura, the story starts to spiral into this tense exploration of a curse that spreads like an invisible virus.
You get to see how their experiences echo one another, and the film tries to show that this curse is entwined with human vulnerability, but I felt like the execution never fully matched the promise, as the idea of a deadly smile is good, but only so much you can do with it.
One of the things that frustrated me the most was how much the movie insisted on explaining itself - every twist, every subtle visual cue, seemed to be spelled out explicitly - and I thought this was a real missed opportunity because tension thrives on uncertainty, so when you know exactly what’s going to happen or why it’s happening, the mystery evaporates.
The film also makes some bold choices, when it comes to the visuals especially with the frequent upside-down shots and inverted angles in the first half, and while I understand why they did it - it’s meant to unsettle you, to put you slightly off balance - but it ended up feeling overdone for me.
There’s a line between stylistic tension and gimmickry, and I think Smile crossed it a few times, as a little goes a long way, and here it felt like too much of a good thing.
Performance-wise, Sosie Bacon carried the film with a quiet intensity, even when the plot around her became a bit absurd, while Caitlyn Stacy was also good enough as Laura, though her presence was sometimes overshadowed by the film’s need to hammer the plot down in a very literal way.
The narrative a bit messy at times it has to be said, where characters carry their own trauma and secrets, which could have been interesting if explored more deeply, and the pacing often undermined the ambition, as it felt like the story was constantly pulling in different directions, but there were glimpses of something genuinely unnerving, moments before the film pulls back and reminded me it had to explain the logic behind every single event, and I think Smile could have been better with more subtlety.
The curse itself is a brilliant idea, and the simplicity of it makes it almost intimate, and inherently eerie, but the way the story unfolds, it rarely lets the concept breathe, but despite my frustrations, there were elements I enjoyed.
The sound design was effective enough, and the cinematography, even when overused, occasionally struck the right balance between disorienting and engaging, and I found myself invested in Rose’s journey, even if the narrative mechanics annoyed me at times, but unfortunately Smile feels like a film of contradictions.
I didn’t hate it, but I certainly left wishing it had leaned into its strengths rather than constantly holding my hand through the story.
[Smile on IMDB] [Where to watch Smile]
And if you didn't know, A sequel for 'Smile' is set to be released in October, just in time for Halloween and since I have just watched Smile 2, you can read my review!