Smile review: Occasionally effective but mostly cliché-ridden horror
The feature debut from Parker Finn is overly reliant on jump scares.
The feature debut of Parker Finn, new horror flick Smile is adapted from the writer/director's own short film Laura Hasn't Slept – which was released back in 2020. That short was just 11 minutes long, whereas this has been expanded to a full two hours, and the result is a film that is occasionally effective but too often trades in well-worn genre cliches.
Sosie Bacon is Dr Rose Cotter, a psychiatric doctor who lives in a beautiful house with her fiancée Trevor (Jessie T Usher) and their pet cat Mustache. Although she's used to dealing with difficult situations at work, one day a shocking incident occurs that proves far more traumatic than anything she's used to.
That incident concerns a visibly shaken young PhD student, who arrives in Rose's room with a chilling story about a suicide she recently witnessed, which she claims has left her in a permanent state of terror. Most disturbingly of all, she's convinced that something indescribable has been following her around ever since – a shape-shifting spirit that is making her fear for her own life.
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Those fears, it turns out, are justified. Right there and then, the student suddenly starts smiling in a deeply sinister fashion before brutally taking her own life, which understandably causes great distress for Rose. And so the plot is set in motion – the earlier feelings of terror described by the student have now passed on to Rose, who must find a way to stop them before she meets the same grisly fate.
Cue an investigation – which also involves Rose's ex-boyfriend, a copper named Joel (Kyle Gallner) – that eventually forces her to confront her dark past. It's a plot that is in some ways reminiscent of recent horror films such as It Follows, in that it deals with a threat that passes from person to person, but despite some occasional moments of promise, Smile can't live up to those predecessors.
Perhaps the film's biggest issue is one that has plagued many sub-par horror films before it – an over-reliance on jump scares. Finn far too often falls back on this relatively cheap tactic of scaring the audience – and although one or two of them are sure to get you, it's hard not to feel a little cheated when it happens for the fifth, sixth, and seventh times.
It's especially dispiriting given that the director does display an aptitude for building a menacing atmosphere – there are fleeting moments where Finn manages to create a feeling of impending doom that mirrors the inner life of his lead character, only to disrupt that broiling tension all too quickly.
As for the frequent smiles of the title, it will probably be a matter of personal taste whether you're creeped out or amused by them – but unfortunately, I found myself regularly falling into the latter category.
Bacon is an engaging lead, convincing as a woman who is being genuinely driven to despair by the horrifying ordeal facing her, while there is some decent comic relief in the form of her sister Holly (Gillian Zinser) and brother-in-law Greg (Nick Arapoglou).
But the investigation aspect of the plot is fairly plodding, somewhat going through the motions as Rose attempts to track down various people who have met the same fate now plaguing her, including a prison visit that features a brief appearance from Stranger Things star Rob Morgan.
Nor is the film particularly subtle in its messaging. It is the latest in a long line of recent films to explore the theme of trauma through horror, and cinemagoers will no doubt find themselves recalling countless others that have tackled similar themes with more invention and originality.
Still, if you aren't immune to jump scares and fancy something relatively by-the-book to ease yourself into the Halloween season, Smile will probably do a serviceable job.
Smile is released in UK cinemas on Wednesday 28th September 2022. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.
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