Smile, 2022.
Directed by Parker Finn
Starring Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Caitlin Stasey, Robin Weigert, Kal Penn, Judy Reyes, Kevin Keppy, Rob Morgan, and Gillian Zinser
SYNOPSIS:
When Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) witnesses a bizarre and traumatic incident involving a patient, she begins to experience frightening occurrences that she can’t explain, so must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.
There has been a lot to smile about when it comes to the horror genre in 2022; The Black Phone, using similar iconography of the horrific fixed grin on display here, dialled in at the box-office to the tune of $160M , while Ti West’s X was also a success, and Barbarian is currently scaring the bejesus out of audiences. Hoping to continue that trend using a creepy gimmick of it’s own is Parker Finn’s psychological horror, which looks to trade smiles for screams in the lead up to Halloween.
From the off Smile leans into slow-burn horror territory, and it’s all the better for it. Once the LOUD NOISE jump-scares are out of the way, with the volume of phones dotted throughout the movie less believable than than any smirking ‘evil entity’ at the dark heart of this tale of trauma, it settles into unnerving, clinical storytelling.
Cameras loom overhead as if they’re looking for the Overlook Hotel, often performing 180° turns on a forward axis to cold, discombobulating effect. Rooms are sparsely populated in a world occupied by the spectres of lonely individuals. Everything about the canvas Smile is set against feels forlorn, abandoned and unloved.
It’s a tone that adds to the unsettling, insidious (a film to which this owes a huge debt, particularly the garish presentation of the startling title card) nature of the story that’s about to play out over the film’s slightly too long runtime, especially considering it’s based on an eleven minute short.
Anchoring the anguish is a terrific thread-pulling performance from Sosie Bacon, whose character unravels in front of your eyes, carrying the weight of the films ambitious themes on her shoulders and earning every ounce of your desire for her to tackle her literal and metaphorical demons in gut-wrenching fashion. Here’s a woman who has nobody in her life willing to take her word about anything.
Smile‘s context is rooted firmly in the now, with mental illness manifested as horror and the shadow of #metoo looming throughout, so even if it favours monster movie mechanics by the time the films finale comes, rather than the subtlety of something like It Follows or the sublime Relic, it’s at least starting a discussion on such weighty issues, when most of the audience have probably shown up to squeal at the horror awaiting as an unsuspecting child unwraps his birthday present.
The sound design is another outstanding element to what is an impressively assembled film, with some inventive edits and a skin-crawling score to compliment the steady-handed tension building employed by debutant director Parker Finn.
Stylishly framed and derivative in all the best ways, Smile is more The Ring than Ringu, but deals in as much grey matter as it does red, and is elevated by a captivating central performance from Sosie Bacon.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★
Matt Rodgers – Follow me on Twitter
Originally published September 28, 2022. Updated October 3, 2022.
