Let me start off by saying that the marketing for this movie has been 10/10 from the start. The first teaser trailer had no words and only showed a man sitting on a hospital bed, smiling creepily. Then, it showed the name of the movie and the opening date of September 30. The vagueness of the trailer was immediately intriguing and immediately put this movie on my radar. Then, in the weeks leading up to its release, they had a bunch of people at Mets games, smiling creepily and wearing “smile” shirts. It did a great job of getting people talking about the movie and solidified my need to see it in theaters. Thankfully, Smile lived up to the hype and made it one of the first horror movies I’ve enjoyed in theaters in quite some time.
I feel like horror has taken a major dip in quality over the years. There were a few hidden gems, like Hereditary or Us, but I’ve definitely seen an increase in cheap jumpscares and backstory spin-offs that really didn’t need them (I’m looking at you, Conjuring franchise). I was looking forward to seeing a spooky film with a solid plot, an intriguing story, and some solid scares that didn’t just rely on loud noises and gore. And thankfully, Smile delivered. The story follows Dr. Rose Cotter who, after witnessing the suicide of one of her patients, starts seeing the very same hallucinations her patient described. She quickly realizes that this is much bigger than just herself and starts a frantic search to discover what’s causing all this before she becomes the next victim. The story seems very reminiscent of The Ring, but in a way that I don’t mind. The Ring also has a main character that gets a curse passed to her and has to figure out what happens before she dies next. Smile was definitely unique in a lot of ways, which made it stand out and not feel like a repeat. The whole concept of people smiling being a bad omen is such a cool concept. Taking a societal norm and turning it on its head makes the film exponentially more creepy. Another great plus for the movie was the sound design; even in the trailers, I noticed the creepy sounds and music playing along, but this was amplified in the theater. Although the concept alone was scary enough, the soundtrack added a whole other layer to it.
I will say, however, that even though I enjoyed the film, I don’t think it’s going to be a horror classic like Halloween or Scream. It did have some cheap jumpscares thrown in and some questionable CGI at the end, and overall I do think the pacing was a bit off in the final act. But it’s definitely a great popcorn film and definitely a perfect October film. Overall, Smile is a fun, spooky movie that lives up to the hype of its marketing. Be warned, however: afterward you may never view a friendly smile from a stranger the same way ever again.
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