thefendiprint

This film is amazing in every aspect and it's clear the director knows exactly how to make a masterful film. Anyone saying otherwise clearly does not understand the power of cinema, when done as well as this was. The story unveils itself in a way I haven't experienced with a film in a long time, forcing you to change perspectives every 5 minutes. You will go from hating characters to loving them in a matter of minutes. Full of everything you could want in a movie - mystery, drama, suspense, heart, emotion. It kept me on the edge of my seat throughout and I never once felt like checking the time because I was so enthralled from the beginning. This is definitely a film that has easily become an all-time fave for me just after one watch. Now brb as I go watch his previous film Shoplifters.

I'm convinced all of these positive reviewers are being paid by Paramount to further promote this very mediocre film. I'm also convinced I watched a completely different movie than everyone else here.

For starters, this film is once again entirely too long for what it is. I'm not sure why Hollywood thinks every movie that comes out these days has to be 2 hours or longer, but I guarantee this film could've been at least 30 minutes shorter, and taken absolutely nothing away from the story or the viewing experience. A majority of the film drags on and is quite boring at times, with lots of filler moments.

Next, the so-called horror of it all. This film is not scary, and anyone claiming it to be "the scariest movie" like I've seen on numerous reviews clearly does not watch many movies, let alone horror. The "smiling" aspect is corny and unserious, despite best efforts. In my opinion, there are only two genuine jump scares, both of which are spoiled in trailers for the film (naturally).

The story itself explores themes of generational trauma and mental illness, but unfortunately none of it is done in a way that is new or original. We've seen this story and these themes told a million times (and much better). The acting wasn't that bad, but it's also nothing to write home about. I will give points to sound design, as I do find it to be quite successful on its own, but as a collective, there are too many flaws to overlook here. And don't even get me started on this being yet another film with zero explanation for the cause of its events. Just because you leave things "open to interpretation" doesn't mean it's good or subversive! It just means your writing is lazy. Someone please tell Hollywood that. We're tired.

I am a huge horror fan just as much as the next guy, but I went in to Smile with low expectations that were sadly proven correct. There are countless other 2022 horror films that are so much better than this. Barbarian, for example, is lightyears better and reaches heights that this film only wishes it could reach! Smile is like a much worse version of if It Follows and Hereditary had a baby. I don't recommend, and I have no plans to ever see this again. They should've kept this straight-to-streaming.

Look, I'm a huge drag fan as much as the next gay, but this special was just straight up baaaad. I didn't expect much, and was still somehow befuddled at how bad it was. The sketches were not funny, the songs were also not funny, and the most random assortment of queens/kings? I love all of these queens but why not get more queens known for comedy? I get that some of the queens included are known for singing, but even that wasn't enough to save this. I'm so glad to see drag content continuing to make bigger waves in mainstream media outside of Drag Race, but this was a flop by all standards. The only good part honestly was Kesha so 2 stars for that. I appreciate the attempt Hulu, but it's not giving.