Smile has the creepiest smiles you’ll ever see in a horror movie. I’ll never forget seeing the 40 second teaser in theaters before there was any information available online. Smile captured my attention, but I didn’t plan on seeing it until I was encouraged to. The clever marketing made it seem like Smile was some kind of hallucination. Little did I know, Smile is actually based on a 2020 short film by aspiring horror filmmaker Parker Finn. The equally disturbing short Laura Hasn’t Slept was quickly adapted into one of the scariest movies of 2022. Though intended for streaming, Paramount believed in the movie enough to give it a theatrical release.
Only Caitlin Stasey reprises her role as terrified psychiatric patient Laura. Smile is like a combination of It Follows, The Ring, and Truth or Dare. It Follows, because there’s a mysterious supernatural entity that passes a curse from person to person. The Ring, because the victim is given only a few days to escape their fate. Truth or Dare, because only the victim can see the entity’s creepy smile. Sosie Bacon is a worthy new lead as psychiatrist Dr. Rose Cotter who goes just as mad as Laura after witnessing her death while wearing one of the unsettling smiles. Rose experiences several hallucinations that make the audience question reality. Those moments are far creepier than any unnecessary jumpscare.
Rose alienates her fiancée played by Jesse T. Usher and her sister played by Gillian Zinser. Robin Weigert and Kal Penn play psychiatrists who try to help her, but only her police officer ex played by Kyle Gallner is able to help. Similar to The Babadook, a recurring theme for each victim is trauma. Rob Morgan plays an inmate who was only able to escape through an act of violence. The gore is a bit too realistic for my taste, but Smile did manage to speak to me in an unexpected way. When the entity is finally revealed, it threatens Rose by saying “You can’t escape your own mind.” The very definition of psychological horror. Sometimes a person is unable to escape their own trauma. Smile is deeply disturbing on multiple levels.

Laura smiles