‘Smile 2’ review: unhappy horror sequel might make you frown

“Music did almost kill me,” announces Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), the haunted protagonist at the centre of Smile 2. A pop star – think Lady Gaga meets Britney Spears – Skye has come back from the brink of drugs, alcohol and “a lot of bad decisions”, following a car accident that took the life of her actor-boyfriend. Even without this, she’s driving herself into the ground – relentless touring, the pressures of fame and being hounded by fans who just want to post a clip of her on their TikTok.

Music indeed could be the death of her – were it not for the demonic entity she’ll soon be battling. As anyone will know who saw Parker Finn’s Smile, it’s all about a spirit or presence that infests its human host like a parasite, causing bizarre hallucinations (others grinning in front of the infected like The Joker on acid) and ultimately inducing suicide. Gory, nasty and fresh as newly-baked bread, no wonder it became the breakout horror hit of 2022 – making a whopping $217million worldwide.

While the first film centred on a psychiatrist, this refresh gives us a whole new world – complete with costumes changes and choreographed dance routines. After a prologue involving some evil drug dealers who get their grisly comeuppance, the story switches to Skye, who is glimpsed on Drew Barrymore’s chat show, telling audiences “I’m grateful for this second chance and I don’t want to waste it.”

Flanked by her mother (Rosemarie DeWitt, excellent) and assistant (Miles Gutierrez-Riley), Skye is already frazzled. With a global tour about to start, she’s also meant to speak at a benefit for underprivileged kiddies and her back – thanks to that car accident – is playing up. In need of Vicodin, it’s when she pays a trip to her dealer, Lewis (The White Lotus‘ Lukas Gage) that she runs slap bang into the unnamed entity, just as it causes him to bash his own face in with a gym weight.

Suddenly, Skye starts getting all the symptoms, visualising nightmarish scenarios – including, at one point, a group of fans in tableau-like form coming ever closer to her (it’s genuinely creepy). And who is it that keeps texting her anonymously, saying he knows that she was present at Lewis’ house when he died? As slick as one of Skye’s dance routines, Finn keeps the suspense going for a while at least, as he cranks up the wince-inducing moments (bones snap, skin torn off, you name it).

Sadly, Smile 2 doesn’t feel as fresh as its predecessor. Partly because it borrows liberally from films like Flatliners (and tries to out-gore The Substance for all the bloody prosthetics). Others films, like Brady Corbet’s Vox Lux, have also done the teen pop star narrative better. And in essence this is just a re-run of the first movie, just in a slightly glitzier environment. But thanks to Naomi Scott, who previously featured in Guy Ritchie’s live-action version of Aladdin, there’s a flawed female heroine to root for. Is it scary? Rarely, to be honest. But it knows how to twist the knife, at least.

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