by Austen Terry, Contributing Writer
Spooky Season is officially here, and there’s no better way to kick it off than with a good horror movie. 2022 has had some outstanding ones to choose from. September ended with the release of Smile, a new mystery/thriller/horror movie that will keep you tense throughout the almost two-hour runtime. I have enjoyed scary movies since I was 9 years old when The Ring was released, and Smile feels like a good blend between The Ring and It Follows. There are times it’s predictable, but it leaves you with questions — some necessary ones left unanswered, and some that needed to be answered. There are times when you wonder what the film is saying about mental health, and times when it will leave you questioning your own sanity. This movie will make you question everything you are seeing, and that’s what makes it truly terrifying. Major trigger warning, though: this movie shows images of very gruesome suicides, and deals with that topic as a whole. If that topic is something you struggle with then this film is definitely not for you.
Smile tells the story of Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), who goes to see troubled patient, Laura (Caitlin Stasey), for the first time. Laura tells Rose that she is seeing people no one else can see, and they are smiling at her. Laura commits suicide in front of Rose, and when Rose starts to also see things, her friends and family struggle to believe her. Is she really seeing all these things, or is it just her mind trying to cope with what happened with Laura and some past trauma with her mother? Like all great mystery horror movies, she explores the case and finds out that between four and seven days earlier, the previous victim had witnessed a horrible suicide and then killed themselves in front of someone. Rose has to keep searching for answers along with Joel (Kyle Gallner), the only person willing to help her, and find out if there’s a way to beat the cycle.
This film is the directorial feature debut of Parker Finn, who also wrote the film. Finn brings a lot out of Bacon, who goes through a tremendous amount of emotional trauma throughout the film. Bacon leaves you caring for Rose, especially because she truly has no good support system in place. As someone who has dealt with people not listening to them or believing them about their mental illness, I sympathized with Rose on an emotional level. That’s where this film pulls you in, because you could very easily interpret it as saying it’s all in her head, which causes you to question everything. All the “supporting” characters just suck (the characters, not the actors) because seemingly no one knows how to help. Mental health is a key factor in this movie — where most movies just keep it very superficial, Smile pulls you in and drags you spiraling down with Rose. The way Bacon displays extreme anxiety is phenomenal because it’s not just being on edge; she fidgets, bites her fingernails until they bleed, is constantly moving, and is seemingly always is on the verge of a major anxiety attack. This film will make you feel anxious in every way possible.
As this is a horror film, there are jump scares galore, and you are already on edge anyway — they simply enhance the fear. There is also a lot of blood and gore throughout, starting pretty early on so be cautious. Suicide is the main way people die in this movie, and they are extremely gruesome in every way possible. You can see how Laura does it in the trailers, and compared to most of the cases you see, hers is very tame. I want people who struggle with mental health and suicide to know this going into this movie so you are not shocked upon seeing it. I will also add that with September being Suicide Prevention Month, it is not great to release a movie that deals so heavily with suicide at this time.
Finn didn’t just do great work with the actors. The cinematography is phenomenal as well. Shots pull you in or turn upside down, or quick cuts bring out more anxiety in you. This film seems designed in every way possible to leave you with an uneasy feeling, which makes it memorable. Smile is going up against some heavy hitters of horror movies released this year, and it’s better than some. It will give you the scares you may need to start off this spooky season and leave you jumping out of your seat. This is a good one to see in a theater thanks to how some of the shots are laid out. So if you are looking for a good scary movie to start October with, look no further than Smile.
Score: 7/10
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