29/11

Featured in The 7PM Project: October 17, 2024 episode (2024)

Tale

International pop sensation Skye Riley, who is going on a world tour, begins to experience increasingly frightening and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by growing horrors and the pressures of fame, Skye is forced to confront her past. Kyle Gallner is the only actor reprising his role from the first film so far. Skye Riley: [Smile to Entity] You're not in control, I am!. I didn't have the highest hopes for 'Smile 2'.

How wrong I was

It seemed like a concept with one movie and nothing else. This movie took what was an above-average horror movie in the original and said we're going to improve on it in every way. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's still popcorn horror, but it's high quality popcorn horror. Jump scares rarely get anything out of me these days. This one had jumped out of my chair many times.

However, his character was quite well created

I have to make a note of this though - these seemed like the loudest jump scares I've ever heard in a movie theater. Even if the fear didn't work, the noise alone could be quite startling. I'm not entirely sure if it was just the volume of my movie or the sound mixing. I was worried when the main character was introduced and she was a pop star that it was going to be difficult for her side. Real-life pop stars haven't exactly made themselves the most likable people in the last couple of decades.

Many modern Horror films forget this, but not this film

He was flawed, but he was also very personable and easy to be around. It helped that we got a great performance from Naomi Scott, it has to be said. A good opening scene in a horror movie has become a lost art. It is very important to hook your audience from the start and set the standard. The opening scene was brilliant and really got the movie started in the right way.

This movie is quite long for a horror movie, clocking in at over 2 hours

It was an ambitious call to maintain the quality for so long, and I kept wondering when it would all fall apart. However, it never did, and it even got stuck at the end, which I was really worried it wouldn't do. I never thought I'd write this, but 'Smile 2' will be a contender for one of the best horror movies of 2024. 9.5/10.