When it comes down to its core there isn’t really too much to say when it comes to Smile. Firstly it was a not a film I was planning on seeing, I simply had two hours to kill and so ended up seeing it. As a self proclaimed critic of course I should see most things and I do try to, but then and again there comes the very annoying activity of reviewing a film that just could so easily be described in the simple summary paragraph I close these pieces out with. At the end of the day Smile has a few moments of quality, however is ultimately nothing but a bombardment of horrid jump scares that give the effect of an intense headache, rather than a solid horror feature.

Credit

Parker Finn as writer and director of this film has to take the blame. If one stands back then I’m sure this review could read as a slight recommendation of the director as they overcame some of the abysmal aspects of the script, or even as a slight recommendation of the writer in constructing a few scenes that were horridly brought to the screen with the subtlety of a sledgehammer and the ferocity of a screaming child. However both figures are Finn and in both departments the man is struggling to make good of his bad writing and his bad directing. So often the film resorts to horridly loud and abrasive, almost sickeningly visceral jump scares that of course scare an audience - such as any loud sound would, but this is all similarly in service of a nothing script. The whole farce is this sickeningly abrasive (the best word to describe so I shall continue to use it) effort to shock an audience and of course it succeeds, but it only succeeds because of just how horrid and shocking its tactics are. I just have never been so physically affected by jump scares in my life. These were just so loud and horrid all in service of nothing too. Sosie Bacon as our lead Rose is solid and is clearly a great actress when it comes to presenting bold and effecting emotions, however in the hands of Finn she comes off as a hysterical banshee always crying and always screaming. Now I’m sure if I had an evil demon chasing after me, then I may feel the same, but for a 2 hour film (needlessly 2 hours may I add) this all gets so painfully draining. The biggest positives I can grant the film are regarding that of its practical and make up effects later in the film, and by later, I do mean the absolute very end. These final creature effects by Amalgamated Dynamics were truly astounding actually and led one to be annoyed more than anything that the whole film was not more of a creature feature. It would certainly be a lot better than this farce we ended up with.

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A shoddy 2/10 that does have some great actors doing their absolute best, however as other reviewers (Adam from YMS) have already illustrated in their reviews, time after time this feels like a parody of a prestige horror film. Whole scenes could remain un-edited if this was a spoof film and that is hardly something you want to be said about your wholly serious dramatic horror effort, now is it? Bacon as our lead does great work then and again but could never achieve the believability required for this ridiculous farce of a film to work. The loudest and most sickeningly cynical jump scares I’ve endured for some time make this a genuine terror to watch, bring pain-killers for after, for you will need them. But at the end of the day this is not a parody and this is not funny enough to recommend as a watch in that ironic sense. The film is just too boring and too abrasive, when it’s funny, it’s funny, but you can wait for YouTube searches for that stuff, trust me.

P.S. Can we please give Robin Weigart a break? Now she sure is excellent as the multiple therapists she has ended up portraying, however can we please maybe next time give her a role that isn’t just re-hashing her brilliant turn in Big Little Lies. It’s almost becoming a point of parody at this point. Albeit again, she is great whenever she does take those roles on.

P.P.S. Can we stop the trend of using a popular 50’s or 60’s pop song after our harrowing horror films. Again with the choice of bloody Lollipop I felt like I was in a parody film commenting on this weirdly frequent decision to have pulsating drone score reach a screaming climax over a still frame close up on our lead, only to cut to black and then…. “doo-bop-ba-doo-bop”.

-       - Thomas Carruthers