katerinara

If this had been the first Smile movie, or Smile had even a fraction of the creepiness factor they accomplished in this, it would have risen above mediocrity. If you saw the first one, you know what this is about. If you didn't, here's a quick and dirty synopsis: we follow Skye, the famous pop star, as she attempts to recover from a car accident that nearly killed her and did kill her partner. She becomes infected with the "smile curse" and that's where this movie pulled away from it's predecessor and really shines. While the first movie accomplished predictable scares and didn't really feel like it was trying very hard, this sequel really pulled out all the stops. The jump scares were frequent yet mostly effective, the gore is ratcheted up but it works for the most part, the story is complex in it's simplicity, and the ending is...well, I'll say it's pretty wild. There is a creepiness in this that just wasn't there in the first one, and they really used the larger cast to their advantage. The acting was good, albeit over the top at times. I have to take a point away for some parts that I feel didn't work well. One of those isn't a spoiler, it's a symptom of her PTSD from the car accident. It's supposed to look natural but obviously off, but it just looks staged and unrealistic. Outside of that and some major plot spoilers that I didn't care for personally, I did very much enjoy this movie. One of the things that really amps the fear factor is we are seeing this all from Skye's perspective, and that view is often confused and unreliable due to the smile demon's hold on her. I highly doubt I'll watch Smile again, but I'll be rewatching this one. Lots of gore, lots of self harm, lots of body horror, lots of gore (yes I'm saying this twice), but fortunately no animals.

When I first saw this movie years ago, I was shocked at how effective it was with such a small cast. You have 3 main characters, a handful of side characters, then a few more extras. This is a very closed and small set. It feels almost like a play with how intimate and isolated it makes you feel. You really feel how the main characters are closed off from the rest of the world as this situation is progressing. It starts off a little slow as we follow the lead man opening the radio station line and giving his general gruff morning talk. The way this movie approached the outbreak of some kind of virus is among the most original I've ever seen. You at first get little snippets from people calling in, on the wire, and through "chopper Ken". As things turn from incredulous to insanely real, the direction of the movie changes drastically. There is some body horror in this, with a bit of gore, but it's not in your face or too over the top. The decisions the people make in this movie all make sense, and the creativity is off the charts in my opinion. I would qualify this as a "zombie" movie, but VERY loosely. The acting is phenomenal, the plot linear and unique, the sound is perfect (loud isn't so loud you have to turn it down, talking isn't so quiet you have to turn it up, etc) and overall this is a movie I've watched many times because it's just THAT good.

This movie actually took me down a path I wasn't expecting. It's slow and moody, but it's more a think piece than anything else. I came into this movie with certain expectations, but it didn't go the way I anticipated at all, and I'll always be a fan of that. Predictable movies can be fun but aren't as interesting as the movies that think outside the box. The acting is very good and the plot while not unique (wishes not turning out right) was very original in the places they took it. I enjoyed this movie in it's simplicity, because they didn't take the easy road, they turned this into more than just "evil wishes" which the horror genre is chock full of. It's not full of gore, jump scares or visceral horror, it's more the choices we make, why, and what effect they have on us.