Smile 2 | |
---|---|
Directed by | Parker Finn |
Written by | Parker Finn |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Charlie Sarroff |
Edited by | Elliot Greenberg |
Music by | Cristobal Tapia de Veer |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 127 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $28 million |
Box office | $138.1 million [2] [3] |
Smile 2 is a 2024 American psychological supernatural horror film written and directed by Parker Finn. A sequel to Smile (2022), the film stars Naomi Scott as a pop star who begins to experience a series of increasingly disturbing events just as she is about to embark on tour. It also features Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Ray Nicholson, Dylan Gelula, and Raúl Castillo, with Kyle Gallner reprising his role from the first film.
In March 2023, following the commercial success of Smile, Finn signed a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures to develop additional horror projects. In the following April, a sequel to Smile had entered pre-production, with Finn returning as writer and director. Principal photography took place in early 2024 in New York.
Smile 2 was released theatrically in the United States on October 18, 2024. Like its predecessor, the film received positive reviews from critics, with Scott receiving critical acclaim for her performance, and grossed $138.1 million worldwide. A sequel is in development.
Six days after Rose Cotter's death, [a] the now-cursed Joel attempts to pass the Smile Entity on by killing one murderous criminal in front of another. During a shootout, he accidentally kills the witness but drug dealer Lewis Fregoli inherits the curse as a bystander. When Joel tries to flee, he is run over and killed by a truck.
Meanwhile, pop star Skye Riley prepares for her comeback tour following a public struggle with substance abuse and a car crash that killed her actor boyfriend, Paul Hudson. Despite constant supervision from her assistant Joshua and her mother/manager Elizabeth, Skye sneaks out to buy Vicodin from Lewis after injuring her back in rehearsals. At his apartment, Skye witnesses Lewis screaming and panicking before collapsing in an apparent seizure. He rises, smiling, and fatally smashes his face in with a barbell plate. Afraid of being found in a room full of drugs, Skye leaves without alerting anyone.
Now cursed herself, Skye begins to experience deranged hallucinations of people smiling at her, causing her mental health to rapidly deteriorate. Needing support, she reconciles with her estranged friend Gemma. Skye receives a text from an unknown number, claiming to know she was at Lewis's apartment and that she is in danger. While speaking at a fundraiser hosted by music executive Darius, Skye hallucinates the teleprompter stalling and goes on an impromptu tirade about how success has not improved her life. She sees a smiling Paul approaching from the audience and panics, accidentally injuring an elderly guest.
Skye meets Morris, the man who texted her, in a bar. He has been tracking the Entity ever since it killed his brother. He explains that the curse passes to anyone who witnesses a victim's death. Theorizing that the Entity is parasitic and could die without a host, he suggests stopping Skye's heart and then resuscitating her to break the curse, but she refuses and leaves after being recognized by bargoers. Following a lengthy mental breakdown in her apartment, Skye is cornered by the Entity, which takes the form of her backup dancers. Skye tries to escape but is violently thrown around the apartment and pinned down as a giant arm forces its way into her throat, causing her to black out.
A flashback reveals that Skye caused Paul's death by intentionally crashing the car during a drug-induced argument. Later, Skye awakens at a retreat and argues with Elizabeth over the upcoming tour. Suddenly, Elizabeth smiles, smashes a mirror, and fatally stabs herself with a shard. Skye attempts to leave but, to her horror, realizes that it was she who stabbed Elizabeth. Skye escapes the retreat and reunites with Gemma, stealing a car to meet Morris. She receives a call from the real Gemma and realizes that the "Gemma" who has been with her all week is the Entity. After regaining control of the car, Skye meets Morris at an abandoned Pizza Hut, where they plan to use the walk-in freezer to prevent brain damage when stopping her heart. Morris temporarily leaves and the Entity appears as Skye's former self from the car wreck. After a struggle, she fights it off and injects herself with the syringe meant to stop her heart. Unfazed, The Entity mockingly affirms that Skye is not in control.
Skye then finds herself on stage for a performance at Herald Square Garden. [b] She sees Joshua, Darius and a still-alive Elizabeth watching from the audience, and realizes that the entirety of the past few days have been an illusion. The Entity appears as Skye's current self before tearing its stomach open to reveal its true form: a large, skinless creature with multiple smiling mouths nested within one another. Skye screams and falls into a trance, and the Entity rips Skye's mouth apart and crawls inside; to the crowd, it just appears that Skye has collapsed while choking. A possessed Skye stands up, smiling, as she fatally stabs herself in the eye with her microphone in front of thousands of horrified spectators.
Additionally, Drew Barrymore appears as herself, interviewing Skye on her talk show, while director Parker Finn himself cameos as a photographer. The likeness of Sosie Bacon as Rose Cotter appears via a hallucination to Joel. Trevor Newlin appears as the Smile Entity. [4]
Smile writer and director Parker Finn intentionally left portions of the first film ambiguous, with various plotlines unresolved, to create the opportunity to explore those details in a sequel. [5] He noted that while additional installments may explore the backstory of the entity, he would like to keep its mysterious nature intact, adding that a follow-up film would be notably different from the first as he believed "there is still a lot of interesting stuff to explore in the world of Smile. ... I'd want to make sure that there's a new, exciting, fresh way into it that the audience isn't anticipating." [5] [6] [7] In March 2023, following the commercial success of Smile, Finn signed a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures to develop additional horror projects. [8] The following month at 2023 CinemaCon, Paramount announced that a sequel to Smile had been green-lit and was in pre-production, with Finn returning as writer and director. [9]
In October 2024, Finn described the film as "an exploration of the downfall of this pop star who's unable to overcome the things that have been put upon her." He added, "What I love about the ending of this film is that I wanted to create this meta-feeling moment, where the audience in the arena is staring through the screen at the audience in the movie theater. I wanted to raise the question: Did we do this to Skye? By us coming back for a Smile 2, have we done this to her? It's all intriguing to me, this idea of 'are we complicit in this?'" [10]
In December 2023, Naomi Scott was cast in a leading role, [11] which she stated was inspired by Lady Gaga in the early 2010s as well as Britney Spears. [12] In early 2024, Lukas Gage, Rosemarie DeWitt, Dylan Gelula, Raúl Castillo and Miles Gutierrez-Riley joined the cast. [13] [14] [15] Kyle Gallner reprised his role as Joel from the first film. [16] In September 2024, it was revealed Drew Barrymore would appear as herself in the film. [17] The casting of Ray Nicholson was an homage to his father Jack Nicholson's role in The Shining (1980). [18] Principal photography took place from January to March 2024 throughout Hudson Valley, New York, with primary locations in Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Wappingers Falls, Albany, and New York City. [19] [20] Returning Smile crew members included cinematographer Charlie Sarroff, editor Elliot Greenberg, and composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer. [21] [22] The film's budget was $28 million. [23]
Smile 2: The Skye Riley EP | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
EP by | ||||
Released | October 11, 2024 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 17:58 | |||
Label | Interscope | |||
Producer | Idarose | |||
Naomi Scott chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Smile 2: The Skye Riley EP | ||||
|
Smile 2: The Skye Riley EP is a soundtrack extended play (EP) by English actress and singer Naomi Scott, as her character "Skye Riley". It was released through Interscope Records on October 11, 2024. [24]
On June 8, 2024, the @SkyeRileyNation Instagram account began teasing a new era of a popstar named Skye Riley. [25] On June 13, Bloody Disgusting spotted promotional billboards promoting the artist and her new music. [26] On June 18, a song titled "Blood on White Satin" was released through Interscope Records and was featured in the first trailer of the film. [27] The film was promoted with an audience member at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. [28] The second single, "Grieved You", was released on September 13. [29]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Grieved You" |
| Take a Daytrip | 2:40 |
2. | "New Brain" |
| Idarose | 3:05 |
3. | "Just My Name" |
| Idarose | 3:32 |
4. | "Blood on White Satin" | Kesselman | Idarose | 2:43 |
5. | "Death of Me" |
| Idarose | 2:46 |
6. | "Just My Name" (piano version) |
| Idarose | 3:15 |
Total length: | 17:58 |
Smile 2 was released in the United States by Paramount Pictures on October 18, 2024. [30] The film was released on premium video on demand (PVOD) on November 19, 2024, and is set to be released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, in a 4K Ultra HD SteelBook, and DVD on January 21, 2025. [31] [32]
As of December 10,2024 [update] , Smile 2 has grossed $69 million in the United States and Canada, and $69.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $138.1 million. [2] [3]
In the United States and Canada, Smile 2 was projected to gross $17–25 million from 3,619 theaters in its opening weekend. [33] [34] The film made $9.5 million on its first day, [35] including an estimated $2.5 million in previews. [36] [23] The film went on to debut to $23 million, topping the original's $22.6 million debut and finishing first at the box office. [37] The film made $9.5 million in its second weekend, finishing second behind newcomer Venom: The Last Dance . [38]
The film received positive reviews from critics, with many deeming it an improvement over the first film, and giving high praise for Naomi Scott's performance. [39] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 86% of 200 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10.The website's consensus reads: "Blessed with a nerve-jangling star turn by Naomi Scott, writer-director Parker Finn broadens Smile's conceit into a pop stardom nightmare that'll leave a rictus grin on horror fans' faces." [40] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 67 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [41] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale (up from the first film's "B-"), while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it a 71% overall positive score (including an average of 3 1/2 out of 5 stars). [23]
Writing for Polygon , Austen Goslin gave a positive review for the film, deeming it superior to the first, while stating: "Rather than simply rehashing the original, Parker Finn pushes his clever premise to its logical extreme and builds some incredibly scary scenes to match. In fact, Finn ends Smile 2 in a spot that feels like the perfect conclusion to the franchise — and the perfect jumping-off point for the career of one of the most exciting horror directors of his generation." [42] David Fear of Rolling Stone wrote, "There are long stretches where you actually forget you're watching a Smile movie and couldn't be blamed for thinking you've stumbled into a slightly more nightmarish version of Beyond the Lights ." [43] Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film 3/5 stars, writing, "I'm not sure if Smile 2 really adds much to an experience that we don't already know but it does make for a neat, well-utilised setting for a horror film about losing one's mind." [44] Variety 's Owen Gleiberman said, "The movie is hardly subtle, yet Parker Finn has become a clever enough filmmaker to make reality feel like a hallucination and hallucinations feel like reality." [45]
Bilge Ebiri of Vulture was more critical, writing, "As Skye becomes increasingly unable to tell what's actually happening and what's a waking nightmare, we should feel more for her, and we should feel more with her. Instead, we lose interest, as the whole thing becomes pointless and even a little cynical and cruel. The movie ultimately scuttles its own ambitions." [46] NME 's James Mottram said, "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)... in essence this is just a re-run of the first movie, just in a slightly glitzier environment." [47]
Award/Festival | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Astra Awards | December 8, 2024 | Best Horror or Thriller Feature | Smile 2 | Nominated | [48] |
Best Actress | Naomi Scott | Nominated | |||
Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller | Won | ||||
Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards | February 15, 2025 | Best Contemporary Make-Up | Sasha Grossman, Valerie Carney | Pending | [49] |
Saturn Awards | February 2, 2025 | Best Horror Film | Smile 2 | Pending | [50] |
Best Actress in a Film | Naomi Scott | Pending | |||
Best Film Make Up | Smile 2 | Pending | |||
Best Film Music | Cristobal Tapia de Veer | Pending |
In September 2024, writer/director Parker Finn confirmed plans to continue the franchise with a third film; stating: "...we've maybe only scooped a single glass of water out of the ocean. ...I think it's really fun to imagine a lineage of Smile movies where each one becomes more off the rails than the previous one." [51] In December, it was reported that Smile 3 was in the works and was set to start filming in 2025. [52]
A scream queen is an actress who is prominent and influential in horror films, either through a notable appearance or recurring roles. A scream king is the male equivalent. Notable female examples include Barbara Steele, Sandra Peabody, Linda Blair, Felissa Rose, Olivia Hussey, Marilyn Burns, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Neve Campbell, Daria Nicolodi, Dee Wallace, Isabelle Adjani, Sarah Paulson, Vera Farmiga, Jamie Lee Curtis, Taissa Farmiga, Anya Taylor-Joy, Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Samara Weaving, Heather Langenkamp, Shawnee Smith, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Melissa Barrera, Naomi Scott and Linnea Quigley.
Dark Castle Entertainment is a film, TV, and digital projects production label. It is owned by North American sports and entertainment company, OEG Inc. The firm is led by co-CEOs Hal Sadoff and Norman Golightly.
Brian Robbins is an American film producer, director, and actor serving as co-CEO of Paramount Global since 2024, president of Nickelodeon since 2018, and president and CEO of Paramount Pictures since 2021.
Paranormal Activity is a 2007 American supernatural horror film produced, written, directed, photographed, and edited by Oren Peli. It centers on a young couple who are haunted by a supernatural presence inside their home. They then set up a camera to document what is haunting them. The film uses found-footage conventions that were mirrored in the later films of the series.
Naomi Scott is an English actress and singer. After a starring role on the Disney Channel series Life Bites (2008–2009), she earned recognition for starring in the television musical film Lemonade Mouth (2011), for which she performed on its chart-topping eponymous soundtrack. She then starred in the science fiction series Terra Nova (2011) and the superhero film Power Rangers (2017).
Rings is a 2017 American supernatural horror film directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez and written by David Loucka, Jacob Aaron Estes and Akiva Goldsman. It is the third installment in The Ring series and is based on elements of Spiral by Kōji Suzuki. It stars Matilda Lutz as a young woman who finds herself on the receiving end of a terrifying curse that threatens to take her life in seven days. Alex Roe, Johnny Galecki, Aimee Teegarden, Bonnie Morgan and Vincent D'Onofrio also star in supporting roles.
The Conjuring Universe is an American horror franchise and shared universe centered on a series of supernatural horror films. The franchise is produced by New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster, and the Safran Company, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The films present a dramatization of the supposed real-life adventures of Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent yet controversial cases of haunting. The main series follows their attempts to assist people who find themselves harassed by spirits, while the spin-off films focus on the origins of some of the entities the Warrens have encountered.
A Quiet Place is a 2018 American post-apocalyptic horror film directed by John Krasinski. The screenplay was written by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods from a story they conceived, with contributions by Krasinski after he joined the project. The plot revolves around a mother and father (Krasinski) who struggle to survive and raise their children in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind extraterrestrial creatures with an acute sense of hearing.
Crawl is a 2019 American natural horror film directed by Alexandre Aja, written by brothers Michael and Shawn Rasmussen, and produced by Sam Raimi. It stars Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper as a daughter and father who, along with their dog, find themselves trapped in the crawl space of their home and preyed upon by alligators during a Category 5 hurricane in Florida.
Paw Patrol: The Movie is a 2021 Canadian animated action-adventure comedy film based on the television series Paw Patrol created by Keith Chapman. It was directed by Cal Brunker, who co-wrote the screenplay with Billy Frolick and Bob Barlen from a story by Frolick. Several cast members from the main series reprised their roles, including Kingsley Marshall, Keegan Hedley, Shayle Simons, Lilly Bartlam, and Ron Pardo. They are joined by Iain Armitage, Marsai Martin, Yara Shahidi, Kim Kardashian, Randall Park, Dax Shepard, Jimmy Kimmel, Tyler Perry, and introducing Will Brisbin in his film debut as Ryder. In the film, Ryder and the Paw Patrol pups are called to Adventure City in order to stop the recently-elected Mayor Humdinger from wreaking havoc.
The Black Phone is a 2021 American supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson, and written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill. It stars Mason Thames as Finney, a teenage boy abducted by a serial child killer known colloquially as The Grabber. When Finney encounters a mystical black rotary phone in captivity, he uses it to plot his escape by communicating with the ghosts of The Grabber's slain victims. Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, and James Ransone also feature in the principal cast. Derrickson and Cargill produced The Black Phone in association with Blumhouse Productions CEO Jason Blum. Universal Pictures oversaw the film's commercial distribution, and funding was sourced through a Universal–Blumhouse co-production pact and tax subsidies from the North Carolina state government.
Hellraiser is a 2022 supernatural horror film directed by David Bruckner, with a screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, from a screen story co-written with David S. Goyer. A reboot of the Hellraiser franchise, the eleventh installment overall, and the second adaptation of the 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker following the 1987 film, the film stars Odessa A'zion as a young woman recovering from addiction who ends up with a mechanical puzzle box that can summon the Cenobites, humanoid beings who thrive on pain being pleasure. Jamie Clayton, Adam Faison, Drew Starkey, Brandon Flynn, Aoife Hinds, Jason Liles, Yinka Olorunnife, Selina Lo, Zachary Hing, Kit Clarke, Goran Višnjić, and Hiam Abbass appear in supporting roles.
Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie is a 2023 Canadian animated action-adventure comedy film based on the television series Paw Patrol created by Keith Chapman. The sequel to Paw Patrol: The Movie (2021), it was directed by Cal Brunker, who co-wrote the screenplay with Bob Barlen from a story by Brunker, Barlen, and Shane Morris. Several cast members from the main series reprised their roles, including Christian Corrao, Luxton Handspiker, Callum Shoniker, and Ron Pardo. They are joined by an ensemble voice cast including Mckenna Grace, Taraji P. Henson, Marsai Martin, Christian Convery, Kim Kardashian, Chris Rock, Lil Rel Howery, Serena Williams, North West, Saint West, James Marsden, Kristen Bell, and Finn Lee-Epp in his film debut as Ryder. In the film, the Paw Patrol pups gain superpowers from crystals inside a meteor and must stop Mayor Humdinger and his new accomplice Victoria Vance from wreaking havoc in Adventure City.
Smile is a 2022 American psychological supernatural horror film written and directed by Parker Finn, in his feature directorial debut. A follow-up to Parker's short film Laura Hasn't Slept (2020), it stars Sosie Bacon as a therapist who witnesses the bizarre suicide of a patient, then becomes overwhelmed with increasingly disturbing and daunting visions that lead her to believe she is experiencing something supernatural. It also features Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Kal Penn, and Rob Morgan, as well as Caitlin Stasey reprising her role from Laura Hasn't Slept.
The Smile franchise consists of American psychological supernatural horror installments, including a short, a theatrical feature film, and its feature-length sequel. Based on characters and an original story by Parker Finn, the filmmaker explores elements of paranoia, psychological trauma, and fear in elements of storytelling. The plot of the franchise follows a number of characters who are tormented by a wicked entity that follows them, unceasingly determined to be the cause of their death. This force, termed by Finn as "the Monstrosity", presents itself with the identifying characteristic of a malevolent smile while it takes the form of the people that the characters encounter. While the characters frantically try to save themselves from the leering presence of death, they experience visions of a frightening nature.
Parker J. Finn is an American filmmaker. He is the director and writer of the horror-thriller films Smile (2022) and its sequel Smile 2 (2024).
Alexis Kesselman, also known by her stage name Idarose, is an American singer, songwriter and producer. She is based in New York and Los Angeles. She is known for writing and producing 5 of the 6 Skye Riley songs for the psychological horror movie Smile 2.
Skye Riley was the main protagonist of the psychological horror film Smile 2.