The beloved (or dreaded) sequel is oftentimes a simple cash-grab by studios to continue profiting off of a blockbuster hit. Unless the sequel is rooted in nostalgia, it is often a box office flop and hated by fans of the original.
However, ‘Smile 2’ has redefined sequels and in my opinion, is better than the original.
The horrifying, gory sequel follows pop star, Skye Riley (played by Naomi Scott) as she returns to the spotlight after struggling with addiction. We are first introduced to her when the pop star goes on ‘The Drew Barrymore Show.’
Her appearance was the first public interview since being severely injured in a car crash that left her boyfriend dead. Skye opens up about how her year long hiatus involved intensive rehab for her addiction but is now ready to be back on stage for her world tour.
After the interview, we follow Skye as she prepares for tour. During this sequence, we see Skye as a stereotypical pop star, lashing out at team members and being a perfectionist.
This perfectionism exhausted her and led the back pain from her accident to creep back during a dance rehearsal. Forced to remember her scars, Skye reached out to her former drug dealer Lewis Fregoli (played by Lukas Gage), for pain relievers.
When she arrives in a disguise, she finds Lewis in a manic state, attacking her and questioning why she is there. The scene continues as Skye calms Lewis down while he describes the supernatural week he has experienced.
Obviously blaming his intense drug use to explain these delusions, Skye dismisses him and brings him back to reality. Lewis leaves to go get the pain relievers Skye requested.
After a few minutes, he returns screaming at something unseen by the viewer and Skye. This is when he brutally kills himself in front of Skye, beginning her week of torment.
‘Smile 2’ outshines the original primarily due to the character development of Skye that is brilliantly portrayed by Naomi Scott. Where the first movie focuses more on plot points and scares, the sequel takes the time to develop the protagonist’s storyline in such a way that the audience roots for her in the end.
A harsh contrast from the quiet, reserved psychiatrist lead in the original, Skye’s intense persona initially makes her an unlikeable diva. However, as the movie progresses and we see her backstory take shape, we end up rooting for the struggling pop star.
The pressure she faces from her team and her fans humanizes the singer while she also deals with the inhuman entity tormenting her.
The continuation of the smiling curse from the original surprisingly does not make the movie just another boring, repetitive copycat of the original. Director, Parker Finn, let his artistic style shine with more of his signature obscure camera angles and lingering viewpoints, which leaves the audience in suspense.
Accompanied by the haunting score of Cristobal Tapia de Veer, the movie is artistically a step above the original.
As a horror movie fan, this was the most terrifying movie I have ever seen. The combination of nauseatingly realistic gore, toothy inhuman grins, and the mysterious supernatural antagonist, made me feel like a kid afraid of the monster under the bed.
Despite my terror, the cinematography and characterizations made this a thrilling sequel that may not have ended the smiling curse, but has perhaps ended the bad sequel curse.