Film Review: SMILE (2022): Parker Finn Creates a Tale of Terror That’s Sure to Please Horror Audiences

Smile Review

Smile (2022) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Parker Finn and starring Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Caitlin Stasey, Robin Weigert, Kal Penn, Judy Reyes, Kevin Keppy, Rob Morgan, Gillian Zinser, Marti Matulis, Dora Kiss, Sara Kapner, Matthew Lamb, Jerry Lobrow, Scot Teller, Vanessa Cozart and Nick Arapoglou.

Parker Finn’s Smile is a truly absorbing horrorfest that will keep audiences frightened all the way through with its terrifically conceived central premise and solid lead performance by Sosie Bacon. It’s a nightmare come to life that is one of the more entertaining horror movies of late even if it’s not quite on a par with some of the more bizarre but terrifying recent horror movies such as Barbarian. Smile comes pretty darn close to perfectly achieving that sinking feeling for the viewer that all hell is going to break loose for the main character of the movie and there will be no turning back as the film unveils its surprises one after the other in such a way that audiences will be riveted.

Sosie Bacon stars as Dr. Rose Cotter, the film’s main character, who has a past where her mother died an untimely death that has haunted Rose for much of her recent life. As the film begins, a new female patient comes in who tells Rose that she’s a PhD student so she’s not crazy. However, this woman is talking about seeing freaky smiles that are sending her into a breakdown or possibly something even worse. This woman takes her own life in front of Rose which traumatizes her as Rose begins a quest to find out more about why this happening occurred.

Rose is involved in a seemingly healthy relationship with a man named Trevor (Jessie T. Usher) that becomes more bizarre as Rose digs herself deeper in terms of her researching the past surrounding the recent series of freaky events which have been occurring. What else happens? Rose’s cat, Mustache, disappears and turns up dead in a box that Rose gives a young child at a birthday party. Something is not right with Rose and her boss (Kal Penn) has suggested she take a week off from work to deal with what is going on in her life. However, there’s a curse that seems to be attached to Rose as she soon learns of a chain of suicides that all involved smiles in one freaky way or another.

Kyle Gallner is Joel who is a cop that Rose enlists to get her information surrounding the aforementioned series of deaths and it turns out Rose is soon close to the four-day mark of her witnessing the suicide. Nobody else has lived past four days of witnessing similar acts except one guy who is currently in jail and Rose must talk to him to see if she can understand just, exactly, what is going on. Meanwhile, Rose’s relationship with her boyfriend goes to hell as he tries to get her mental help instead of believing what Rose thinks is true about the real reason behind the curse which is sweeping certain people up into a frenzy and taking their lives in the process.

Smile is terrifically conceived and never becomes repetitive as it reveals its twisty plot which doesn’t cop out in regard to what it sets out to do which is keep the audience frightened from beginning to end. Sosie Bacon plays her part in such a way that she is relatable even if she seems to be losing her marbles right in front of our eyes. Gallner more than holds his own beside her as her unwilling partner who assists her in trying to learn what is really going on.

Also strong is Jessie T. Usher’s performance as the boyfriend who ends up fighting with Rose and losing faith that she is still, in fact, sane. Trevor’s doubts that Rose is playing with a full deck ultimately takes their relationship for an unexpected turn. Caitlin Stasey as the grad student who kills herself early on is also very memorable with a smile that is as frightening an image as a movie like this should feature.

The last scenes of Smile make the movie work best even if some of the scenes towards the end feel somewhat formulaic. Still, this doesn’t detract from the quality of the movie. As Smile reveals the demonic force behind Rose’s worst nightmares, the movie even features an image reminiscent of the ending moments of The Blair Witch Project from 1999. Luckily, this new film’s ending is much more complete and therefore, more frightening as a result.

Smiling victims of this demonic power the film showcases are definitely freaky images and are perfectly interweaved throughout the picture thanks to the quality of Finn’s direction. The movie could have been cheesy in another director’s hands, but this movie becomes absolutely terrifying to behold the more it goes on. Finn definitely delivers enough of the scary movie goods to ensure that Smile will be a crowd pleaser for fans of movies that could inspire nightmares for weeks or longer.

Rating: 7.5/10

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