A smile so sinister: Smile review

Gabriela Gondolfe

She/Hers 

SGA President 2023

11/1/22

Trigger warning: this article contains mention of suicide.

If you thought you have seen every horror cliche, you haven’t seen “Smile”. The new supernatural horror film written and directed by Parker Finn is full of jumpscares, fake nightmare scenarios, and chilling cinematography. Dr. Rose Cotter, played by Sosie Bacon, witnesses a patient commit suicide in front of her after she claims to see a smiling entity, invisible to everyone. After this traumatic event, Rose starts to see unexplainable things consistent with what her patient described. Rose loses grip on reality and no one believes there is a true source of fear. The tormenter targets victims that have experienced immense trauma in their lifetime. Each time said tormenter appears, the world around the main character is dream-like and straight out of a Freddy Krueger-esque nightmare. Smile details her downward spiral as she seeks to find an end to the horrors following her around. 

This film is put together in a way that rarely makes you feel at ease. The frame is usually angled, and strange, ominous music plays throughout these scenes. Just when the music builds up to a scary scene, nothing will happen, then BAM, the most terrifying smile you have ever seen is on the screen. Too many jumpscares can be lazy, and overdone, but in this film, they added a chilling purpose. If you are not a fan of gore and violence, this film is not for you. 

The trailer made the movie seem like another goofy, scary movie that I would forget about, however, most of the time I was peeking through my fingers, too frightened to see what would come next. As a horror movie, Smile knows how to scare, but its underlying narrative is based on the destructive effects of trauma that can be dark for a lot of viewers to watch. All 115 minutes of this film had me on the edge of my seat, literally. I have not been so intrigued by a movie in a long time, so if you are a horror fan I recommend seeing the film Smile in theaters.