“About to embark on a new world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and the pressures of fame, Skye is forced to face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control.”
What I remember most about the first film is the marketing campaign. There are few films that can really say that, especially these days, when marketing is such a different landscape than it was only a decade ago. The actors that were placed in the audience of a baseball game with creepy smiles garnered so much attention that it became a trending sensation. Probably one of the most brilliant and cost-effective strategies of all time, the stunt put the first film in the limelight and propelled it to becoming a box-office hit for Paramount.
Marketing strategies aside, the first film was a solid horror story, very reminiscent of some of the greats over the years such as The Ring, and It Follows. The mystery surrounding the curse, the not knowing what’s real and what’s not, and the horrific images and self-mutilations, all elevated the film above the ‘straight to streaming’ label that it was originally intended for. With the ending of the first film and surprise success, it was inevitable a sequel would be made, with Smile 2 being even more ambitious than the first.
Horror films in general tend to follow the same formula, and horror sequels in general usually emulate what worked before. Picking up shortly after the events of the first film, it certainly seems as though we’re going to be following the Kyle Gallner character ‘Joel’ from the first film, which would be fairly predictable. However, that doesn’t happen. Instead, the film is thrown into an entirely different direction. As easy as it would be to continue the story, characters and world the filmmakers had already established from the first, we’re introduced to our new protagonist Skye Riley, a character unlike any other in the genre.
The Skye Riley character, a global musical sensation, doesn’t seem the typical focus for a horror film about a curse that causes you to kill yourself in front of someone within a weeks’ time. These types of characters are usually someone isolated, someone that certainly wouldn’t have global attention if they end up maimed and mutilated in a mysterious fashion. What I enjoyed most about Smile 2 was this fact that this can happen to anyone, even millionaire musicians. Despite her wealth and status, her character is a very troubled one, with a sordid and tragic past she’s worked hard to overcome. The character works so well largely in part of Naomi Scott’s performance. For me, it was the most memorable thing about Smile 2 and definitely elevated this above what I was expecting for a sequel. I was easily invested in this character, not only her struggle to understand what is happening to her, but her struggle to regain control of her life and re-establish her career after events that transpired before the story begins.
These curse-type horror films are always interesting, to me anyway, largely for the discovering the origin of said curse. We don’t get a lot of that in these films, but what little we do get, and of seeing the entity in its entirety is pretty horrific. It’s a fine line that the filmmakers successfully walk, not showing too much and risk ending up fairly boring such as Ring 2, which was pretty much all discovering its origins. Writer/Director Parker Finn has established a solid horror franchise with Smile and Smile 2. Without referencing the ending directly, I can’t even imagine where they go from here, but the third is supposed to be filming this year, and I for one am eager to see the next installment.
Video
Smile 2 is presented in 2160p 4k Ultra High Definition Widescreen featuring Dolby Vision. Although I originally watched this streaming several months prior, the 4k version looks so much better in terms of brightness, detail, and vividness of color. There are multitudes of sequences filled with examples, the on-stage numbers, costumes, in which the Dolby Vision really enhances these visual aspects. If given the choice, 4k above all.
Audio
The audio is presented in Dolby Atmos, and again, was presented much better than streaming. Levels are well balanced, center channel clear and concise with the dialogue. There are some really fantastic moments featuring the surrounds that immerses you entirely in the moment.
Special Features
We received the Steelbook version of this release to review. While I think personally I prefer the cover-art for the non-steelbook version that features Naomi Scott instead of Jack Nicholson’s son, it’s still a nice collectable edition that features the 4k version, Blu-ray, and Digital Code.
Additionally, you’re going to get quite a bit of extras and small featurettes:
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
- Ear to Ear
- The Rise and Fall of Skye Riley
- Behind the Music
- A New Smile
- Commentary by Director Parker Finn
- Smiler: A New Monster
- Turn that Frown Upside Down
- Show Me Your Teeth
Smile 2 doesn’t do anything totally groundbreaking in its execution, but does end in a unique way that will present new and interesting challenges for the next film. Naomi Scott’s performance alone is worth the watch, as well as some of the gruesome and horrific imagery you’d expect from the franchise. Although this has been streaming for awhile, the 4k and Blu-ray physical copies are available 1/21, with vastly superior video/audio quality.