Get scared shitless by a smile

I follow a lot of horror movie groups and there’s usually two camps: it’s the best horror movie ever or it’s the stupidest thing they’ve ever seen. Smile was no exception. I try not to go into movies with expectations, and honestly, I did not have high ones.

I had caught wind of the movie’s marketing campaign, so I wanted to see what it was about.

Here’s the good news: it was way creepier than I envisioned. The jump scares, given the soundtrack, was expected – but they did NOT come at expected times. My movie companion watched the movie through their hands. And these jump scares came with creepy imagery – the movie could back it UP!

The not so good news is that the plot is tenuous. It’s an interested twist to the curse plotline – you watch a suicide and it gets passed on to the next person unless you kill someone else. That’s somewhat original – I appreciated the original idea. But…the characters did a pretty terrible job of selling it. “It’s like they’re wearing a mask.” Uh, ok. It’s a ghost? It’s the paranormal? Sosie Bacon’s character finally came up with the word “curse” towards the end and that really explains it, but the movie kinda played it dumb at the beginning.

But potentially there is a mental health angle here – satire. Not exactly sure what they’re trying to say, though.

Overall, I’m telling my horror buddies to head to the theater for an experience you don’t get very often in horror movies…really well-timed, creepy jump scares.