rb-51994

Skye Riley is back. You've never heard of Skye Riley? Well, now you do. And you will see her. Singing. Dancing. Crying. Screaming. And - most importantly - smiling.

The anti-heroine of Parker Finn's "Smile 2" is a world-known popstar getting back into the spotlight after a devastating tragedy that might have changed her forever. Pushed by her agency and her manager-mom she goes on a international tour. But she struggles and resorts to drugs again. Too bad that she meets the wrong guy for the job who threatens her with a katana. And bashes his skull into bloody mess of flesh and bones. The rollercoaster begins and Skye is taken over by a force that bends her sanity to its will and its smiling face which appears out of nowhere.

Naomi Scott delivers a tour de force performance as she struggles through the illusions of a demon that wants its host dead. The movie gives her enough time and ideas to deliver a threedimensional character. You will hear some good songs too.

The synthesizer sounds and the haunting camera work are causing nausea in the best way possible. It's a stylish film, the scares are alls well paced; the movie never feels to long. With no exception, the gore is more than you could imagine. Body parts, stabbed eyes, bashed-in skulls, half-severred heads. The movie does not hide its horrific intentions.

All in all, it is better and much more visceral than it's predecesser. And at some points, it gets a bit cynical in the best way imaginable.

Even with its runtime clocking a small amount over 2 hours, my only criticism would be the rushed ending. It was just too abrupt.

But that wasn't something which could turn the smile on my face into a frown.

I hope i did not get cursed in the ending. Seeing smiles everywhere...

Being German, i actually really dislike most of my nation's dramas, mostly for their bleak depiction of nearly everything. An unrewarding depression mood, intertwined with bursts of out-of-place screams and violence. But this movie hit different - in the most frustatingly positive ways possible.

The central character is the overambitious teacher Carla Novak who began to teach at a German highschool, being silently confronted and appalled by the zero tolerance politics of the institution. The plot revolves around the dark grey areas of such a strict set of rules, as a series of thefts begin to disturb the carefully constructed but fragile peace. Racial profiling. Anauthorized searches. Between all of this stands our protagonist. And then she seemingly finds the culprit... with even more consequences she herself could not have imagined.

First of all - nearly every character can be seen as unlikeable in a certain way at the end of the movie, even Carla. Students. Teachers. Parents. Everyone hits different. Everybody get's the chance to shine in a negative light. And different ideals and opinions clash. That's a strange achievement. And it's strangely a good one.

The actors are playing their parts so well and natural. Especially the dynamic between lead Leonie Benesch's character and Leonards Stettnisch's Oskar is a stand-out. At some points there are not even words needed - just some uncomfortable staring contests.

The movie sticks close to the people but is cold trough its use of muted blue-white colors and beautifully captured through a claustrophobic 4:3 lens. The music is simple and effective with a minimalistic silence, a dissonance for an overly stressful confrontation and pompous score for the outro.

Ambition, failings and social dynamics are going hand in hand. They substitute the topic of theft quite fast through the mid point of the movie. Who does support the other one's believes and who is there to challenge them? Is everything well-meant actually good?

And we get an open end. Maybe to open. No big scale thriumph over the other. No real culprit and no real solution. Just an empty school. An empty microcosm that was inhabited by themes of communicational misteps, distrust, mobbing, fake personalities, moral ambiguity, ... you name it.

You may be leaving the cinema with different opinions and ideas. And that's the best thing a movie can achieve. Even if it isn't going to satisfy all movie goers

Prepare for school. Watch it. Be frustrated.