For many, ‘horror’ means images of blood-and-guts, bug-eyed monsters, ghosts. If the special effects are cheap, you’ll laugh, unless you’re watching the Scream franchise, you’ll groan. But can a smile send a shiver up your spine?
Yes, director Parker Finn says yes with his latest psychological horror movie, not unreasonably titled Smile, when a seemingly harmless grin could induce nightmares for a month.
Although there are some minor problems with the story and the narration, the movie as a whole is a unique experience.
Psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) meets Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey), a patient who thinks she is being stalked by an entity, which smiles at her and tells her that her death is imminent. Few moments later, in the pivotal scene upon which the film’s plot is built, Weaver smiles and commits suicide in front of Cotter, who panics and is traumatised. The shrink begins to see strange things that she cannot explain. She buries herself in research about similar cases and she finds a pattern: the ‘smiler’ commits suicide in front of the ‘smilee’, who, in turn, grins at another person and tops him/herself a few days later. Doesn’t this remind you of The Ring (2002)? Don’t watch that video or you’ll be dead within a week.
Then Cotter experiences hallucinations and fear of the force that will drive her to suicide.
This is Finn’s first feature-length film, whose characters lack depth. Among his credits are two shorts: The Hidebehind (2018) and Laura Hasn’t Slept(2020).
In Smile, we are treated to great shocking scenes throughout its 115 minutes. The film relies heavily on frightening the viewer through many horror flickers and they were done so well that they can make you scream of panic, although, in some scenes the flickers were predictable.
The first part of the movie is realistic, so there is little use of visual effects in most scenes. However, as we start the second part, they wheel on the special effects, which is in keeping with what is going on inside Cotter’s mind.
Soundtrack was by Cristobal Tapia de Veer which provided many wonderful tunes that suit the situation and enable you to feel what the main character feels. Sound effects served hardly any purpose and were mostly annoying, adding nothing to the atmosphere.
The movie poster is probably more haunting than the film itself. What catches the eye first is the partly-hidden face of a woman in her mid-20’s who smiles innocently at the observer. The eyes pan out to take in the zipper of a body bag and a gloved hand with the puller between the thumb and index finger. The woman’s eye’s are open, which is often the case when a victim had died a violent death. However, the contrast between the white teeth and the discoloured skin is disturbing.
Smile is based on Laura Hasn’t Slept, in which an insomniac seeks help from her therapist to rid herself of a recurring nightmare. There’s nothing like a bit of recycling, is there?
