Parker Finn | Bouquets & Brickbats

24/10/24

Cineworld, Edinburgh

The release of Smile was a genuine cause for celebration – an 18 certificate film that was actually scary and didn’t depend on costly special effects to achieve its goals. I loved the film, concluding my review by hoping that writer/director Parker Finn would resist the urge to turn it into a franchise. Two years later, here’s the unpromisingly titled Smile 2 and it’s time for me to eat a large slice of humble pie, because the sequel is bigger, gnarlier and, it must be said, way more ambitious than its predecessor. It manages to skilfully expand the original theme into a great big metaphor about the perils of stardom, drug addiction and fan worship. It’s better than the original, which let’s face it, hardly ever happens.

Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is a celebrated pop diva, looking to relaunch her stalled career after a devastating car crash, which claimed the life of her partner, Paul (Ray Nicholson), and left her badly injured. Her body still carries the scars of the various operations she’s undergone in order to get back in the game but, compelled by her ever-pushy manager (and mother) Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt), Skye is in rehearsal for the big tour that will hopefully propel her back into the charts. So – no pressure there.

When a back injury prompts her to visit her former drug supplier, Lewis (Lukas Gage), in the hope of scoring some prescription pain killers, she encounters a man who is under the grip of the mysterious inner demon that we encountered in the original film. (A pre credits sequence has quickly shown us how he came to be next in line for a helping of horror.) Lewis is grinning happily, even as he beats himself to death with a dumb bell.

Understandably not wanting to be associated with his death, Skye flees the scene but, as she goes gamely on with rehearsals, she’s horribly aware that something is wrong. The world of pop music inevitably has more than its fair share of grinning onlookers but, as the days slip by, there seem to be more and more of them and a mounting air of madness infects everything that Skye does, even when she reconnects with former best friend, Gemma (Dylan Gelula).

What’s more, her time is fast running out…

Scott is terrific in the lead role, acting up a storm as Skye moves from anxiety to fear to utter terror – and she also handles the musical elements with assurance, singing Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s compositions with enough authority to convince me that she really could cut it as a pop star if ever she desired such a career. Finn manages to construct a whole series of jump-scares that really do catch me unawares. The pop world gives him the opportunity to throw in plenty of unsettling images: the star-struck young fan with braces on her teeth who can only stare and smile; the malevolent stalker who wants much more than just an autograph – and the gurning dance troop invading Skye’s apartment at one point is an absolute triumph.

There’s also a toe-curling sequence where Skye is invited to be guest presenter for a major children’s charity and… well, let’s just say that things do not run as smoothly as she would like. As the pressure mounts, and poor Skye can’t even look into a mirror without seeing something terrifying, Smile 2 becomes a masterclass in runaway anxiety. What next, I wonder? Smile 3: The Musical?

If anyone can make that work, Parker Finn is clearly the man for the job.

4.8 stars

Philip Caveney

01/10/22

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Here’s that rarest of things, a horror movie that considers itself scary enough to actually warrant an 18 certificate. In the case of Smile, a confident debut from writer/director Parker Finn, it seems perfectly justified. It’s a long while since a movie unsettled me quite as effectively as this one – and all because of the simple solid gold truth: you can spend millions on fancy effects, but nothing is quite as terrifying as somebody grinning at you.

Indeed, perhaps Grin would have been a more accurate title.

Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) is working long hours at an emergency psychiatric unit and, many years after the event, she’s still haunted by memories of her mother’s death from a drugs overdose. One day a young woman called Laura Weaver (Caitlin Sasey) is admitted to the unit, clearly terrified by a series of visions she’s having, in which characters from her past are visiting her.

The people don’t say anything – they just grin at her. Then, before Rose quite knows what’s happening, Laura has committed suicide, right in front of her.

Rose is urged to take time off to rest but, as you might imagine, that’s no easy matter, because now Rose is starting to experience visions of her own. Her partner, Trevor (Jessie T Usher), is decidedly unsympathetic, telling her he hasn’t got time for such nonsense, and her sister, Holly (Gillian Sinster) – who is also troubled by what happened in the past – soon has powerful reasons to be unsympathetic too, after Rose’s memorable visit to her young son’s birthday party. Only Rose’s ex -partner, Joel (Kyle Gadner), a cop, seems to be ready to offer any kind of help…

It would be a crime to give away any more about the plot. Suffice to say that Finn handles the gradually unfolding narrative with consummate skill, aided by strong performances from the cast and a brilliantly nerve-shredding soundtrack by Christobal Tapia de Veer. Jump-scares are often over-used in films like this, but Finn manages to catch me out time and time again. What’s more, while many horror movies stigmatise those suffering from mental illness, Finn manages to use the trope in a more respectful way, walking that tricky tightrope without ever overbalancing. The title is cunningly referenced again and again, and the idea that past events can keep coming back to haunt a person is effectively demonstrated. The result is a narrative that holds me in an icy grip for almost its entire duration.

It’s therefore sad to report that, in the last five minutes or so, the film stumbles slightly, offering a shonky effects sequence that feels like an unnecessary contrivance, and a conclusion that suggests that somebody already has an eye on turning Smile into a franchise. I really hope that doesn’t happen. With such an assured first outing under his belt, I’m interested to see what other ideas Finn has, because – ending aside – this is a superior slice of horror.

Meanwhile, those who like to be terrorised by what they’re watching should strap themselves in for a wild and traumatic experience. As I leave the auditorium, I notice that a member of staff is smiling at me…

4.4 stars

Philip Caveney