When in doubt, just smile. That’s the powerful advice behind Parker Finn’s highly anticipated sequel, Smile 2, about a pop star, played by Naomi Scott, who slowly descends into madness.
Together with M. Night Shyamalan’s “Trap,” concert-centered horror films become a trend.
The first Smile film was a success – especially by indie standards – so the sequel received an all-star cast and a bigger budget.
The synopsis for “Smile” 2 reads: “Just before the start of a new world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley (Scott) experiences increasingly horrific and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and pressures of fame, Skye is forced to confront her dark past in order to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control.”
Also starring: Rosemarie DeWitt, Ray Nicholson, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo and Dylan Gelula.
In a 2022 interview with IndieWire, writer-director Finn mentioned that Smile was “craft-focused” to create a “unique” take on modern horror. The first film centered on the effects of trauma on a doctor at a psychiatric hospital (Sosie Bacon) who witnesses a patient commit suicide; she is later haunted by an invisible entity that inhabits the bodies of the people around her.
“I love horror as a metaphor,” Finn told IndieWire in 2022. “But I think as a viewer, I get frustrated when it only goes as far as metaphor and doesn’t move on to actually becoming something designed to scare the shit out of you.”
He added that “Smile” is a “character-driven story that explores the human condition, but would also make audiences jump out of their seats and scream a lot.”
“Some people will never like jump scares, but I love a good jump scare,” he said. “I wanted to fill the film with jump scares that felt earned and designed to keep the audience on their toes by increasing and changing the fear.”
The sequel was produced by Finn, Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner and Robert Salerno.
Smile 2 hits theaters October 18. Watch the trailer below.
