“Smile” - A Movie Review

Smile, it’s good for you.

Dr. Rose Cotter is a psychiatrist working at a hospital, a person who takes care of their patients as much as they can. One day, she gets Laura as a patient, a college student traumatized by witnessing her professor’s death. Laura goes on to tell Rose she is haunted by an entity that takes the form of various people, including those she knows and doesn’t. However, there is one thing that always connects the people together to tie back to the entity; they smile, a horrible, creepy, and unnatural smile.

It doesn’t take long before the entity gets control of Laura, and then Rose is next. Having to deal with the entity and the hallucinations, Rose has to figure out a way to break out of the chain of victims while also having to deal with her life slowly falling apart and all her relationships being destroyed.

Everything leads back to her past eventually, and she finds out that she has to be able to confront that if she wants to escape the entity and its’ smiles.

My review:

‘Smile’ is an American supernatural horror film written and directed by Parker Finn, casting Sosie Bacon as Dr. Rose Cotter. If you couldn’t tell by the synopsis, ‘Smile’ isn’t a happy romantic comedy with some fun action. Well, it does have some romance and action in it, just not really the way you think it is.

With only a few days left before the movie left the cinemas, I grabbed a friend and went to go watch it in the morning. It was a spontaneous shot in the dark, with us knowing nothing about the movie, as we didn’t even watch the trailer, and the only knowledge we had of it was that someone said it was creepy. We went in curious and excited about what we were about to watch.

Around 2 hours later, we left the theaters unnerved and in disbelief of what we had watched, stomachs churning and absolutely no appetite for the lunch we had planned. Because of the movie, I was a bit rattled when I saw other people smile, especially my friend, and we had to come to a consensus that neither of us would smile at the other.

Honestly speaking, I wouldn’t say that ‘Smile’ is scary. More so creepy and traumatizing as in it can keep you up at night trying to make sure there’s nothing in the dark trying to smile at you? Yes. Am I also writing this at night even though my imagination will run wild? Also yes.

However, ‘Smile’s jump scares are amazing, planning to leave you horrified, startled, and wondering what’s going to happen next. Each and every jump scare is so creative and well-executed that I’d be petrified even if I didn’t think the jump scares were blood-curdling, or even when I predicted them.

I’d say that ‘Smile’ is a good horror movie to watch when you’re bored and want something that’s moderately scary and creepy, but not to the point where you’re constantly convinced that something’s gonna scare you in the dark at home. Well, as long as you don’t see anyone smiling at you in the dark. (why am I doing this to myself at night when I know I have to go outside)

It’s also a fantastic movie if you don’t wanna be a big brain and figure out what’s happening in the movie, as the film itself already does it for you. But if you don’t like gore, I suggest you take note since the more violent scenes in the movie are pretty brutal and gory. Which isn’t the most pleasant thing to watch, however, you can turn away without missing out on anything important.

Finally, before I finish my review, I’d also like to bring something up. The acting of Sosie Bacon (Rose Cotter) was exceptional, and I was totally immersed in the scenes especially when it was only her. (unless you count the entity as a person too). Not only her, the rest of the actors in the movie were also great, and I was surprised at how immersed I was in the acting the more I watched.

So, give this movie a watch if you feel bored and you wanna get your adrenaline pumping.

And remember to smile!

I’d rate this movie a 4.5/5