It is a common belief that you should never judge a book by its cover, but sometimes that is very difficult, especially when looking at recent horror films. Instead of trying something bold and haunting, current movies tend to follow bottom of the barrel plotlines with idiotic characters and about one or two jump scares. It is a lazy trope due to the mundanity and predictability of the horror elements and the villains.
After seeing the trailer for Smile, where Dr. Rose Cotter begins to see people smirking sinisterly at her following the suicide of a patient under her watch, I expected another generic and formulaic tale. This low expectation quickly evaporated halfway through the film as I was watching the film through my fingers. One of my friends was watching it with his fingers in his ears and the other friend was sobbing into their hoodie about what we were witnessing. Sometimes, I love to be wrong.
If you have been on TikTok in the past month you have probably seen lots of people going into Smile with a hint of excitement and leaving in tears claiming to be traumatised by what they have seen and to be fair to them, this is a scary movie. It knows precisely what it is and instead of focusing on pointless, unnecessary plot devices, this film spends its two-hour runtime trying to freak the audience out. This film has a delightfully eerie mix of creepy moments which build the tension, and flashes of true horror that made walking home in the dark an even more daunting task.
The horror is complemented beautifully by the overwhelming, powerful score by Cristobal Tapia De Veer which constantly leaves you unsettled. There is exceptional cinematography as most shots are off centre or have dark corners lurking in the background. Leaving the audience always on edge about what terrible, smiling monster may be hiding in the darkness.
Sosie Bacon as Dr. Rose Cotter had the monumental task of being the pure heart of this film and her performance is brilliant. She presents her trauma, both past and present so clearly and her terror is tangible when confronted with the demonic presence stalking her. Her supporting cast add great value on top of this, all for the exception of Jessie T. Usher (Trevor) whose character and presentation sometimes let the film down due to an unrealistic nature and shaky performance.
This film does not have the most complex plot and it does follow familiar tropes of let’s make something not scary, scary. However, unlike some predecessors, Smile delivers an unoriginal idea to near perfection, creating a frightening tale that made my weepy friend struggle to sleep for a while. Overall, I am very shocked and impressed by the movie…but please have a serious talk to whoever made that dreadfully dull trailer, Smile deserves better than that.
4/5
Image Credits – The MovieDB