What’s It About
About to embark on a new world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley begins to experience increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and pressures of fame, she must face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Smile 2 is a big improvement over the first movie in many ways. It has more blood and gore, a deeper story, and even scarier moments. The movie looks really good, especially at the start. It opens with an amazing long shot that seems to be all one take, showing off how well-made the whole movie is. This scary sequel is one of the best follow-up horror movies ever made. It’s just as good as the first one, and some people might even say it’s better. The story picks up six days after where the first movie ended. Most of it is about a character named Joel trying to break the curse that causes people to see creepy smiling faces before they die. Then the movie shifts to show what’s happening to a pop star named Skye Riley. Skye is being haunted by the smiling demon that causes the curse. Because Skye had a tough childhood, she’s an easy target for the demon. The movie explains that the demon feeds on people’s bad experiences, so someone like Skye who’s been through hard times is more likely to be affected. Just like Rose in the first movie, Skye starts to have trouble telling what’s real and what isn’t. She keeps seeing creepy smiling faces everywhere she looks. On top of this, Skye is dealing with the pressures of being a famous pop star. She has a big world tour coming up, and she’s trying to keep up a good image for her fans. We learn that Skye just got out of rehab. She’d been there for a year after she had a car crash while on drugs. The crash killed her boyfriend. Now her mom, who’s also her manager, is pushing her to go on this huge tour even though Skye clearly isn’t feeling well enough, either physically or mentally. Skye gets the curse when she sees her former drug dealer kill himself in a violent way. After this, as she tries to go about her normal celebrity life – doing photo shoots, meeting fans, and practicing for her tour – the smiling demon starts scaring her more and more. It gets harder and harder for Skye to know what’s really happening and what’s just in her head. While Smile 2 has some things in common with the first movie, it’s not just a repeat. The beginning and end of the movie are quite different from the original. There’s more blood and gore in this one, and the special effects for these parts are really well done. The movie also has a dark sense of humor. It’s not afraid to joke about how silly the idea of a grinning monster is. There are even some jokes about the movie industry and about product placement in films. Like the first movie, Smile 2 is a psychological horror film. This means it plays with your mind, making you wonder what’s real and what isn’t. You feel the same confusion that Skye does as she tries to figure out what’s really happening to her. The movie is even more tense because Skye is famous, which adds extra pressure to her situation. Even though the movie is pretty long (2 hours and 11 minutes), it doesn’t feel that way because it’s so exciting and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Smile 2 touches on some serious topics like dealing with trauma, drug addiction, and the pressures of being famous. In a way, the smiling demon is like a symbol for these real-life problems. The movie shows how these everyday challenges can be just as scary as a supernatural monster. The movie also looks at fan culture, showing how sometimes the demon appears as obsessive fans. This is a clever way of showing the real pressure that celebrities face from their fans. The actors all do a great job, but Kyle Gallner in the opening scene and Naomi Scott, who plays Skye, are especially good. Smile 2 is a worthy sequel that’s just as good as, or maybe even better than, the original. It perfectly mixes psychological horror (the kind that messes with your mind), jump scares (sudden scary moments), dark humor, and lots of blood and gore. The way it keeps you guessing about what’s real, just like Skye is doing, makes it really fun and engaging to watch. It’s probably one of the scariest movies you’ll see this year, and it’s best to watch it in a movie theater with other people. The movie builds on the story from the first film while also being its own thing. It will probably be the start of a new series of horror movies. Smile 2 is an out-and-out blast on the big screen, striking that perfect cord between being seriously unnerving and merely entertaining. Whether you’re an absolutely seasoned horror freak or a newbie in the terror genre, this is one you absolutely shouldn’t miss.
OUR RATING – A RICTUS 8