Smile (Mini-Review)

Smile is the adaptation of the short film "Laura Hasn't Slept" by Parker Finn. Doctor Rose Cotter is going along her day and nothing seems out of the ordinary. That is until Laura Weaver is brought in as a patient and commits suicide in front of the doctor. Laura had been afraid of an entity that smiled tormenting her and now Rose is seeing the same things. To survive Rose must figure out what the entity is before it's too late. Smile was released in 2022. It was directed by Parker Finn. It stars Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, and  Kyle Gallner.

The tone of this movie is all over the place. It takes itself extremely seriously which harms the movie overall. There are parts of this movie that are just comedy gold. Yet the movie doesn't seem to realize this simple fact. Such as the flashing title, end credit music, and a few of the hallucinations Rose encounters are too goofy to be scared by. Throughout the entire movie I was wondering how I was supposed to approach it. When I review I look at how the work wants me to view it and see if it accomplishes that goal. I feel that's the fairest way to approach reviews. After I got back home I made sure it was supposed to be a horror comedy. When I saw that it wasn't I was shocked.

There is a genuine scary moment in the movie. Problem is that it happens in the credits. After the song "Lollipop" finishes, eerie sounds are played. Just having words to look at while not being able to see anything is terrifying. So obviously someone knew something about horror. It would have been helpful if that same sense of dread was present in the movie itself.

Rose is a compelling protagonist. She helps the mentally disabled even if it doesn't make her super rich. This dedication is caused by trauma due to her mother committing suicide. Way back then Rose found her mother's corpse and the guilt has never gone away. So while the outer conflict is against a mysterious entity, the inner one is Rose confronting her past trauma. In a better movie this would have been utterly compelling. In fact the movie Umma (2022) does the premise of a mother being forced to confront her trauma justice.

Smile reminds me of so many better movies. In fact it became a little game of thinking of all the movies I could be watching instead. Umma (2022) and Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) dealt with how trauma can be passed down. It Follows (2014) also deals with an entity that takes on the appearance of others that only the cursed can see. Smiley (2012) is a movie about a smiling entity that kills people. I can hear you say that Smiley can't possibly be better than Smile. But that's where you're wrong.

One of the few good things about the movie is the premise of an entity being able to change your perception of reality. It manages to deter Rose at certain points by making her perceive things that aren't actually there. If only the movie chose either serious horror or horror comedy instead of a horrible mixture of both.

I would recommend Smile for those wanting a "so bad it's good" movie.