Smile

After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, a psychiatrist becomes increasingly convinced she is being threatened by an uncanny entity.

Smile, Parker Finn

Audiences and critics alike are raving about the new horror film called ‘Smile’. The film premiered in cinemas on September 22 and is still drawing in new watchers. The film directed by Parker Finn explores mental health and the mind through a supernatural lens. The premise, although admittedly not original share links to films such as the ring and it follows and might I say, has the ability to make you jump throughout. I was on the edge of my seat and peeking through my fingers both eager and queasy to see what was on the screen in front of me.  The cinematography favours Dutch angles and uses music as means of intensifying the suspense. 

The loose premise is that psychiatrist Dr Rose Cotter wants to help people through her work. She deals with a lot of patients with varying needs and gets to help them overcome or heal from their past traumas. Her positive outlook on her job and line of work drastically changes when a young teenage girl comes to her office for help. The girl claims to be constantly followed by a malevolent entity that makes her feel frightened due to its sinister smile. Rose is terrified after hearing the girl talk about this thing that has been plaguing her and becomes even more distressed when the girl picks up a broken piece of glass and with a creepy smile and glazed look, kills herself in front of her. It is from that moment that Rose embarks on a journey to protect herself from the same being that haunted her patient. It has attached itself to her and as Rose races against time, she needs to find a way to stop her torment and ensure that she does not meet a similar gruesome demise.

“I was on the edge of my seat and peeking through my fingers both eager and queasy to see what was on the screen in front of me”

 Now, I didn’t think that a smile could send the hairs on the back of my neck to rise, but this film was all kinds of sadistic. Marrying together things that are typically positive and presenting them in a way that is both terrifying and creepy is genius. A smile is inviting and warm, however the smile that this entity puts on the faces of those that it has attached itself to is far from thar. The film is effective in its scare factor because for the most part it leaves a lot to the watchers' imagination. With great story-telling and loud music, it is sure to the get your heartbeats racing.

Scoring 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 4/5 stars on IMDB, it is safe to say that audience satisfaction rates are still quite high despite the film being out for just over a month. With a budget of 17 million and raking in 171.5 million dollars this psychological thriller despite being gruesome has not left a sour taste in audience's mouths. What are you waiting for? Grab a ticket and go get a spook. It is Halloween after all! Let’s see if smile makes you smile...or not.

★ ★ ★

Release Date: September 28th, 2022
Directed by Parker Finn
Written by Parker Finn
Produced by Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Robert Salerno
Starring Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Kal Penn, Rob Morgan
Cinematography by Charlie Sarroff
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Runtime: 115 minutes.