There is nothing inherently wrong with familiar aspects of film. In fact, one of the reasons we go back to genre is because of certain staples in narratives, structures, and tropes. And in horror, especially, certain titles that are “derivative” of other movies can end up becoming classics in their own rights and garnering a huge fanbase (see: every slasher made between 1980 and 1983). But it’s hard not to get bogged down when you feel like you’ve seen something before; sure, you can use that as the springboard to do something new but going through these well-worn motions ends up feeling too redundant. SMILE is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination—writer/director Parker Finn has created a technically proficient film that delivers scares and at least attempts to touch on deeper matter. But too much of the horror relies on elements we’ve seen done before, and done far better, in classic titles like THE RING and IT FOLLOWS.
Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) has used her childhood trauma of a suicidal mother as an impetus to work at a hospital in mental health. She pushes herself too far sometimes, with her dedication leads her to seeing a young patient (Caitlin Stasey). The young woman has been haunted by the horrible visage of some spectral monster, constantly smiling at her while seeming pushing her towards her death. After a traumatic event with that patient, Rose finds herself experiencing similar problems, trying to find someone to believe and help her, but her fiancée (Jessie T. Usher), ex-boyfriend (Kyle Gallner), and sister (Gillian Zinser) don’t believe the dire circumstances in which Rose now finds herself.
Something else that is commonly panned in movies are jump scares, those sudden bursts of action meant to rile up audiences. And they work. Make no mistake, they aren’t that hard to do given proficient blocking and editing (and, in many cases, composer willing to provide an orchestral sting or two), but they aren’t utterly rudimentary either. If you’re familiar enough with the tempo of horror movies, it’s not that hard to gauge when something is going to jump out or the camera will cut and there’s a horrible face or whatever. To deliver a truly impressive and effective scare, the filmmaker must know how to control the tension of a scene, how to introduce the startling moment arrhythmically to how horror hounds expect it, and to involve some sort of imagery that is far more shocking and memorable than just a cat jumping out of a closet or someone saying “boo.” Finn crafts many such terrifically timed and executed jump scares in SMILE that at least one will get to even the most hardened of genre fanatics.
But that pulse-pounding fades and the adrenaline subsides and what is left in SMILE? Ultimately, it’s a well-constructed movie with fairly good performances, an excellent score by Cristobel Tapia de Veer, and some bewitching camerawork by DP Charlie Sarroff. It’s something to watch once with friends looking for a spooky film or wishing to liven up a slumber party, where folks will be rattled but also following each surprised scream with a laugh that they “fell for it.” Finn is clearly an adept director who manages to employ lots of smart audio and visual elements to crank up the tension and atmosphere making it perfect for such startling sequences.
The film also touches, however slight, on the idea of putting a smile on your face and insisting everything is fine when things most certainly aren’t. Linked to that is the real cycle of behavior involving trauma where “hurt people hurt people” and the patterns continue. It’s not much, nor does it dive that deeply into it, but it is nice to see SMILE attempt to be about something bigger than just a creepy rictus on people’s faces.
The problem with SMILE is that it’s all been done before. What movie am I describing?: Someone stumbles onto a situation where an evil pattern takes hold of a person, making them appear insane before killing them somehow, and then that evil transfers to another person so it carries on. The stumbler doesn’t believe at first but quickly becomes engrossed and eventually figures out the pattern and realizes what must be done to break it. Yes, that’s very broad, but it’s also THE RING. That’s IT FOLLOWS. That’s FINAL DESTINATION. That’s SOLE SURVIVOR. That’s something we’ve seen before, and there is no straying from the well-established patterns of this type of story. Even when there appears to be some sign of deviation or a way to subvert expectations… it doesn’t. SMILE goes along with the pre-established structures and that robs the movie of a lot of its impact.
Again, SMILE isn’t terrible. It’s a perfectly serviceable jump-scare delivery system with some spooky imagery, nice horror moments, and a truly cool score (can’t say it enough!). It works well for people that want those jolts and to shriek within the comfort of a theater or their living room. SMILE certainly will play better watching with many people than by seeing it alone, as the crowd will feed off the tension and those screams will ripple through the aisles. And for people not familiar with THE RING (in all its forms) or PULSE or IT FOLLOWS or many others, it will feel completely original and probably terrifying. But for the rest of us, it’s a shame that something like SMILE, that devotes so much energy to creating surprising scares, chose not to do anything surprising with the plot.
SMILE hits theaters nationwide on September 30th.
Tags: Caitlin Stasey, Charlie Sarroff, Cristobal Tapia de Veer, Elliot Greenberg, Fantastic Fest 2022, Gillian Zinser, Horror, Jessie T. Usher, Judy Reyes, Kal Penn, Kyle Gallner, Larry W. Brown, Paramount Pictures, Parker Finn, Rob Morgan, Robin Weigert, Sosie Bacon
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