Smile 2 (2024)

Smile 2 absolutely surpassed every expectation I had for it, and I'm calling it a very strong 4.5 out of 5. That's a bigger deal than it sounds, because I walked in genuinely concerned. I liked the first Smile — good story, a real exploration of grief — but the scares were generic and it never felt like a film that had earned a sequel. Parker Finn proved me wrong on every count.

Naomi Scott carries it

My favourite thing here, by a distance, is Naomi Scott. As pop star Skye Riley she's playing a deeply complicated person with a lot of layered emotions running at once, and she sells all of it. Skye is a year out from a car accident that killed her partner, a year she spent in hospital and rehab as an active alcoholic and substance abuser. Scott plays that history like it's still in the room with her.

The first film was about grieving somebody else's death. This one shifts the target: it's about guilt for what you did to other people, and whether you believe you deserve any of the good things you still have. On a much smaller scale, that's something I can relate to.

It's genuinely scary

I was on the edge of my seat biting my nails through multiple sequences. I jumped several times and swore out loud in the theater. If it weren't for one jump scare in Longlegs, I'd say Smile 2 has the best jump scares of the year outright. The gore is fantastic, leaning on practical effects like the first film, and where the CGI shows up it actually works.

The "not enough of it is real" complaint

The common knock on this film is that too much of it happens outside reality. Fair on paper — but that's the point. The curse is hallucination. It's psychological, it's designed to get inside the character's head, and because it's in her head it gets into yours. You end up questioning whether anything on screen is real. I loved that.

The craft

Two tight hours that never sag, because something is always happening — either Skye's backstory or active horror. The editing is tense and frantic, and there are some great transitions using upside-down cameras. A few things in the final stretch had me genuinely rigid in my seat, and it lands on an ending that made me excited for a third one.

No major complaints. It works on every level: scary, emotional, entertaining. If you like horror, see it.