Smile! It’s Time For A Review

WARNING: May contain spoilers! 

‘Smile’ directed by Parker Finn is a psychological horror movie that was released on 28 September this year. It is based on the short film, ‘Laura Hasn’t Slept,’ Finn’s directorial debut.  The movie runs for 1 hour 55 minutes.  

Smile! You are On Camera – The Publicity Stunt 

In the running for the creepiest marketing stunt witnessed by the world, Paramount Pictures – the movie’s distributor – sent actors to a baseball game on 23 September 2022 in order to publicise the release of the movie. Baseball fans were caught in terror by the sightings of hired ‘Smile’ actors standing around the stands, with the movies signature spine-chilling, sinister smile. But it was not only baseball fans that got a glimpse of the smiling actors. The whole American nation dropped their own smiles when they saw a smiling actor underneath an umbrella in the background of ‘The Today Show.’ 

A pretty perfect publicity stunt, it left viewers petrified, especially as this type of promotion is not seen very often, which is such a shame in our current era of social media. The ‘Smile’ stunt was not just limited to their American crowds; it soon spread across the world via apps like Twitter and Tiktok.  

I mean, the publicity stunt is what got me and my friends to the movie. We just had to find out if it was as scary as it seemed.  

Smile! Here Are My Thoughts 

Personally, I have never found a horror movie that has truly scared me to the bone. There always ends up being something that is not quite what I wanted. I yearn to be terrified by a movie, and I am disappointed to report – the longing continues.  

Now, I still loved the movie and thought that what Finn did was fantastic and frightening, definitely the closest to what I have been looking for. I just did not want to be smiling as I left the cinema. There was still something missing.  

The opening was beyond exciting, I could not keep my eyes off the screen, fast enough to keep me engaged but slow enough that I did not feel like I was missing any details.  

I was infatuated with Finn’s use of camera moves and shots. The use of upside down shots was unbelievably tummy-turning and really set the tone that this movie was in fact not designed to make you smile. Sosie Bacon, who plays the movies leading lady Dr. Rose Cotter, was just another reason that I feel this movie will have no trouble finding success.  

Bacon’s acting is terrifying in the best way possible, and she got completely into character. I felt like I was right there with her when Rose was descending into breakdown. Following Rose’s journey from an upstanding therapist to a plagued woman was absolutely enthralling and it was displayed perfectly. A true testament to herself and to the writing of Parker Finn.  

Smile! Because I Was Not Scared 

Having expected to be leaping out of my seat for half of the movie from jump-scares, I was left slightly disappointed. Although I did get disturbed by plenty of the scares, I found just as many of them predictable. The same cannot be said for one of the friends that came with me, who spent half of the movie hiding behind me.  

The movie was very gory and had a lot of blood, making it hard to believe that the IFCO deemed it just a 16s—that, and the huge amount of swearing used by the characters, half of which felt ultimately felt distasteful and did not add anything to the movie.  

The movie surprised me with moments that left me and others in the theatre chuckling to ourselves. This was something that I did not expect and if done purposefully then I salute Finn as it certainly had me feeling a lot more on edge. I mean, who on earth laughs at horror films?  

Given how much I enjoyed the movie, I was upset with how it ended. The cabin where she grew up, perfect. Joel— Rose’s ex— perfect. But ending the film to then restart it again, to great confusion, just to bring Joel to the cabin with Rose? I would’ve rather that he was not there at all.  

However, I did enjoy that Finn kept me guessing. He had me believing at one stage that I was about to witness the first horror movie in history with a happy ending (screw Trevor, honestly).  

Overall, ‘Smile’ was unquestionably the best horror movie that I have seen in the last while. Despite my few critiques, I take my hat off to director Parker Finn and his outstanding cast. This is the perfect psychological thriller for the Halloween ahead.