Rating: 5/10
The fast-tracked sequel to 2022 box-office hit and viral marketing sensation “Smile,” “Smile 2” seeks to expand on the lore of the “Smile” universe, as leading woman Naomi Scott calls it in the movie’s only-in-theaters preamble.
While director Parker Finn and his bevy of returning crew members do make an effort to elaborate on the lore and cosmic entities established in the first film, it tends to ring somewhat hollow. The occasionally fun sequel ultimately struggles to earn its runtime.
“Smile 2’s” main conceit, one emphasized in its marketing and thoroughly allowed for by its budget, lies with Skye Riley, Scott’s pop star character, seemingly a stand-in for a stereotypical modern music headliner.
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In the process of recovering from a painfully publicized drug problem, the mounting pressure of Riley’s imminent comeback tour leads her into the clutches of the poorly defined demon ghost spirit that gives the “Smile” series its main motif — a considerably CGI-ed ear-to-ear grin that traditionally precedes a gruesome murder and/or suicide.
Continuing with the first film’s interrogation of trauma as its own kind of monster, “Smile 2” inevitably finds itself in comparison to modern horror touchstones like “Hereditary” or “The Babadook” — although it doesn’t quite reach the same heights.
The glitzy New York high-rises that make up the majority of the film’s runtime would suggest a more involved look at the isolation experienced by an uber-famous figure like Riley, but Finn eschews these ideas in favor of a more familiar retread of the movie’s predecessor. The film’s cast is a loose smattering of half-baked figures, with overbearing managers and comic relief assistants regularly offering themselves up as fodder for the movie’s numerous deaths.
It’s here that “Smile 2” finally shows some teeth, with Finn taking a more dynamic role behind the camera and delivering a heaping handful of undeniably fun horror set pieces. Where “Smile” tends to follow a bloody pattern that gets stale after the first few loops, the sequel allows itself to be a little more creative with its horror, with the scares ranging from frantic and claustrophobic to knowingly hilarious.
Scott rolls with the punches well, playing the stock final girl when it’s called for but occasionally clearing the room for a decently compelling portrayal of a tortured and withdrawn celebrity.
The bloody bits are sure to keep the audience engaged when there’s smiling to be done, but it’s the downtime between the action that keeps the movie from preserving its momentum. Clocking in at two hours and change, “Smile 2” struggles to justify its bloated structure, with every minute of good tension followed by five of monotony.
Characters like Riley’s concerned mother (Rosemarie DeWitt) or her estranged high school confidante (Dylan Gelula) step in and out of the narrative without much thought, and their passable — if not slightly miscast — portrayals strain to hold up the weight of the movie’s gray matter.
It’s issues like these that remind one of its predecessor, a similarly paced story that swapped out the character study for a vaguely interesting mystery plot.
The film makes a strong case for Finn and Scott, but its shallow examination of fame and trauma struggles to keep one from counting down the minutes until the next bloody crescendo. Hardcore horror fans are sure to get a kick out of the creative and ample carnage, but the average moviegoer will likely struggle to connect with “Smile 2” on the more guttural and unnerving level it aims for.
