Greetings, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! Today, we dive into the world of one of the most famous (and critically acclaimed) horror franchises of the decade. This franchise has me hooked, and funny enough, I watched the sequel BEFORE the original, which we are about to dive into. The sequel was AMAZING, and my god, the original didn’t disappoint. Get ready readers, and get ready to smile. Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…
Smile
Our tale begins WAY before the present, as we see a flashback to a woman dead in her bedroom, seeming to be the victim of an overdose. As the music picks up (let me just put this in here, Smile (and Smile 2, yes I’m not joking I watched Smile 2 in theatres before ever seeing this movie, theatre or not), has AMAZING cinematography. I would show every shot and write them all down if I could, but just for the sake of time, I have to try and make sure that you guys all KNOW how amazingly it’s shot.
We ACTUALLY begin our tale in the office of Rose Cotter, a therapist working at a psychiatric ward in NEWARK! WOOOOOO JERSEY BABYYYYY!!! Rose is having a VERY stressful day when she encounters Laura Weaver, a VERY smart PhD candidate who seems to be suffering from some sort of psychological breakdown. (Fun fact, Laura has her own short film called Laura isn’t sleeping, which serves as the ACTUAL kick off point of the Smile universe!) Laura seems to be scared, standing in the corner of the room, not wanting to move. Laura is TERRIFIED (this is actually really sad, the actress was KILLING it), and explains that she recently saw her professor kill himself right in front of her, just under a week ago. Laura profusely explains that she isn’t crazy, but decides to tell Rose about her terrors. She explains that an “entity” of some sort is following her, and only she can see it. It takes the form of random people, EVEN some people being from her past or current life. It even took the form of a relative of hers who died years ago. Laura explains that the smiling entity told her that today would be her day to die, and right on que (sadly), Laura begins SCREAMING. She crawls on the floor away from something that Rose cannot see, but still tries to beg Rose for help. After Laura convulses and shakes continuously, she suddenly stops all movement. Rose looks around the rose for her, and finds her. She is SMILING, staring right at Rose. Rose looks down at Laura’s hand, and notices a piece of glass that was broken during Laura’s struggle. Laura picks it up, and cuts her throat right in front of Rose. We are not even 10 minutes in yet.
After being asked a few questions by the cops (one of these cops is named Joel, who is my absolute goat and we will become acquainted with him soon), a shaken Rose heads home. At home, however, all is NOT well. In a very tense scene of Rose just walking around, we see Laura’s smiling face staring at her from the darkness. “Laura” disappears once Rose’s fiance Trevor appears. Rose tells him what happens, but even after telling him, she is STILL shaken. At dinner that night with Trevor, Holly (Rose’s sister), and her husband, the two sisters get into a fight (will be very important very soon).
The next day at work, Rose is still VERY out of it. She walks through the building a bit aimlessly, before asking for the front desk to send the report of Laura’s encounter with her professor, the man who killed himself. Behind Rose appears our boy Joel! He wants to check on Rose, but she gives him a very cold shoulder. (If it wasn’t obvious, these two were ex-lovers). Rose reads the report, and is VERY creeped out by the details. However, when Holly calls to apologize, Rose looks out her window and sees a person all the way on the ground smiling and staring at her. On her way out for the day, Rose walks by the room of a patient named Carl. He is ALSO staring at her. He eventually gets up and RUSHES at Rose, screaming at her, and saying that she is going to die. In a panic, Rose calls for security, and they bolt into the room, only to realize that the REAL Carl has been asleep the entire time.
After the encounter, her boss (Played by the legendary FTHS Alumni Kal Penn) makes Rose go on a paid week long leave. Rose begrudgingly agrees, and heads home. However, she makes a quick stop on the way, buying a toy train for her nephew Jackson (Holly’s son). At her house, Rose has yet ANOTHER spooky encounter, with her alarm going off when seemingly no one was home. Her hallucinations continue, sometimes even coming through the phone. Tevor is becoming increasingly concerned and suspicious, but he can’t get any more answers out of Rose, as she once again has a nightmare about her mother. Rose then begins to listen to Laura’s final words that she recorded once again, until Rose’s mother POPS OUT right next to her, smiling at her and causing Rose to fall to the floor. Rose then takes out a KNIFE to defend herself, and when Trevor comes running in, she waves it around, horrifying him. The next day, Rose revisits her former therapist named Madeline. Rose is honestly just there to get a prescription, but her therapist does not give it to her. She proposes that Rose’s issues at the current moment stem from childhood, especially her self-blame over her mother’s suicide and overdose. Rose tells her therapist what has been happening, but again, she calls it trauma from childhood. Rose tries to explain it herself, but can’t.
Later that day, Rose actually shows up to Jackson’s birthday party. At the party, Rose is FREAKED out barely being tuned in to the party around her. However, she gets INSTANTLY tuned in when one of the most horrific and unexpected scenes of the entire movie occurs. Jackson opens his present, and Rose, fully expecting a toy train to be in there, is shocked and horrified when Jackson pulls out THE DEAD BODY OF HER PET CAT. I WAS SHOOOOOOKKKKK. Rose begins LOOSING IT in front of everyone, until she sees a party guest smiling at her from a chair. She begins to break down even more, screaming at the guest (who no one else can see), and begging them to believe her. However, things go from bad to worse, as the sight of the smiling woman causes her to fall backwards into a glass coffee table, SHREDDING her forearms. Rose gets taken to the hospital, as Trevor drives her home. Rose FIRMLY believes that she has been cursed by an evil spirit that has been passed onto her from Laura (she is 100% right), but Trevor just can’t buy into her story. Rose becomes more and more distressed, but keeps apologizing when she scares Trevor. The two head to bed, with Trevor sleeping on the couch, still not believing her. Rose continues her search for answers that night, as she tries to fall asleep with the VERY visible visage of her smiling mother staring at her from the bathroom.
The next day, (just assume that as each day goes by Rose becomes more and more unstable), she goes to the house of the widowed wife of Laura’s late professor, posing as a reporter. She asks for details, and Victoria (the widow), gives them. She says that he was paranoid, terrified, and shows Rose a whole room of sketches and drawings that the professor said he saw, with one drawing of what seems to be a smiling demon, in an inky black, staring forward. Victoria then reveals the bombshell that the professor, before he died, saw ANOTHER woman kill herself right in front of him. As Rose frantically asks for the name of the woman, she lets it slip that she is cursed, and knows what the professor saw is true. Victoria IMMEDIATELY kicks her out, screaming at her. Rose then hops back into her car and speeds to Joel’s place. He lets her in, although he is still hurt about the cold shoulder he received at the hospital. Our boy Joel is obviously a detective, and Rose (asking Joel to not ask any questions), tells him to search up the professor in police records, and see if he was involved in any other police reports. Joel, being awesome as always, obliges, and finds the name of the woman he saw kill herself. He then searches HER name up into the database, and finds that she witnessed someone kill himself in front of her as well. Rose watches the CCTV footage of the encounter, and sees that the man who killed himself was, you guessed it, SMILING…
It seems that the pair has discovered that people who have witnessed a suicide, with the one killing themself smiling, will also kill themselves in just about a week, in the same fashion. Armed with this knowledge, Joel prints out all the evidence for Rose. Rose speeds back home, and tries to patch things up with Trevor by showing him the evidence. Armed with her flashy “Newark Police Department” folder, she walks into her house, only to find that Trevor called Madeline to the house first, just to try and help with the situation. Rose feels betrayed by Trevor, (and honestly I can see both sides of the argument here), and she bolts, essentially breaking up with Trevor and cursing Madeline out. Immediately after, Rose speeds to Holly’s house, and Holly agrees to talk to her. (This entire time, Rose is becoming more and more unhinged). The two sisters actually have a deep conversation about their childhood, and what is happening with Rose. Holly also doesn’t believe that Rose is actually cursed, and says she sounds just like their insane mother. After Holly says this, Rose LOSES it (like she hasn’t lost it enough already), and Rose blames Holly for leaving her with their mother. Holly legitimately apologizes for being out of the house so often, as it was the only way she could escape as the older sister. However, she says that she has tried so hard to move on, and Rose formed her entire life around it. She truly hurts Holly, as she reveals she traumatized Jackson. As Rose sits in her car, we see Holly storming towards the car. However, it is NOT Holly. Her smiling face drops down next to the window, her neck cracking and breaking. Jackson sees his aunt freaking out about absolutely nothing, and looks on in horror.
As Rose eats alone in a parking lot, she gets a call from Joel, saying that he found the chain going FAR, FAR back. He has discovered that one of the cases disturbs the pattern. A man named Robert Talley saw his business partner commit suicide infront of him, and four days later, he goes and kills a woman he has never met before. HOWEVER, the key eye witness to the murder then commits suicide a week later, and the pattern resumes. Robert Talley LIVED, and the pair set out to talk to him. On the drive, Rose reveals what has been going on to Joel, and says that Laura was completely taken over by something else before she died, so it may not be plain and simple suicide after all (duh). Joel reveals that it is around a week to death, and some don’t survive past four days. Rose says that today is her fourth day, and Joel assures her that she will be safe. She takes his hand, and the two arrive at the holding cell of Robert the next morning.
Rose begins to talk to Robert, and he is TERRIFIED. He sends Joel away before he actually gives Rose all of his info, as Rose pretends that Laura is still alive, and that it was her “patient” who has the curse, not herself. Robert then gives us the exposition dump we all desperately needed, saying that the entity FEEDS on trauma. Robert reveals that there were other chains in the past, even one in Brazil. However, a Brazilian man was able to escape the chain by killing his neighbor and passing it to his neighbor’s wife. He says that the ONLY way is for a cursed person to kill someone else with a witness there, making SURE the witness is traumatized. Rose screams, saying that she cannot kill someone. Robert then realizes that she is the one cursed, and SCREAMS, ordering Rose to leave as he descends into hysterics. Rose tells Joel nothing about what just happened, as she arrives back home later on in the day. She lays out all her evidence, as Madeline appears at the door for an uninvited visit. An aggravated Rose vents to Madeline, before the phone rings. She picks it up, and it’s Madeline. “Madeline” across from Rose begins to smile wide, and tells Rose it is almost time. The entity attacks Rose, and terrifies her. We cut to after the attack, as Rose drives to the hospital, our girl being armed with a KNIFE.
Rose heads into the hospital, and finds Carl, the distressed patient from earlier in the movie. She walks up to him as he FREAKS OUT. Morgan (her boss Mr. Kal Penn himself), walks in. Rose, seeing no other way out, TAKES OUT HER KNIFE AND STABS CARL TO DEATH. Carl screams at her, smiling as he dies, as Rose screams back just as loud. Morgan screams as well, AND RIPS HIS OWN FACE OFF. Rose, of course, wakes up with a scream inside of her car. The real Morgan appears, as Rose is legitimately tweaking at this point (like she hasn’t been for two hours now). Morgan sees the clearly distressed Rose and tells her to go home, before noticing her knife. He is immediately concerned, and Rose drives away the second she sees an entity hallucination right outside of her car. Morgan then calls the police, as the terrified Rose drives away. Rose then BOOKS it to her final destination, as Joel calls her. She says that her plan is to hide somewhere where no one else is. Since there won’t be any witnesses, if she dies, the curse cannot pass. She finally ends up right at her childhood home (it looks JUST like Eminem’s house from the Marshall Mathers LP. Not an important detail, probably not even intentional, but I had to say it).
The house descends into darkness, as we get a flashback to what REALLY happened with Rose’s mother. She did overdose and die, but she was awake when Rose saw her. She told Rose to call for help, but because Rose was so afraid, she did not, and she ran. She carried that guilt with her for the rest of her life, and now, the entity is here, looking exactly like her mother, ready to exploit that guilt. The entity and Rose enter into a verbal argument, with Rose saying she NEEDS to let go of her guilt. Her mother was a monster, and she cannot let her death hang over her any longer. Hearing this, the entity mutates into an elongated, disgusting, HORRIFIC version of Rose’s mother. It tackles her to the ground, and gets ready to kill her. However, in an AMAZING moment, Rose says that since it’s her mind, the entity is trapped in there right along with her. She uses her lantern to hit the entity over the head, causing it, and the whole house, to burst into flames.
Rose BOLTS, and runs to her car, with the entity seemingly finished off. She smiles, watching the house (in like the 750th incredible shot of this movie), crumble in on itself in flames. She gets to Joel’s apartment, and confesses that she was always scared of letting people get too close to her. She apologizes for everything, and in her most vulnerable moment, says that Joel broke down all of her walls, and she wants to be with him. Joel says that he will watch over her as she sleeps for the night with him, and that he will always be with her. Wait, what? Yes, dear readers. Joel begins to SMILE. It is all a hallucination, and as Rose runs out of the apartment, she finds herself still outside of the house, completely unburnt. We hear the ACTUAL voice of Joel, as our boy has tracked Rose’s phone just to help her. Joel bangs on the door, as we see the entity once more. Rose heartbreakingly screams NO, as the entity reveals what it truly is. It rips off its skin, revealing the “Smile Demon”. It. Is. Horrific. If you dare, look up “smile demon” on google and you will SEE this monstrosity. Rose falls into a trance at the sight of it, as we see the disgusting demon pry open her mouth, AND CRAWL INSIDE OF HER. GOD.
Joel FINALLY breaks down the door, and sees an empty house. He looks around, and finally finds Rose, turned around, in another room. She holds her lantern high, and drops it next to her. Rose turns around, smiling. She stares at Joel, and drops a match, setting herself ablaze right in front of Joel. Our tale ends with Joel’s terrified face, his eyes reflecting the burning Rose…
THERE WE HAVE IT! Guys, this movie was SO, SO amazing. I loved literally every part of it. Having already seen Smile 2 (guys Smile 2 was even better imo I love it so much), I am SO happy to share this one with you all. A Smile 2 review will almost 100% happen later in the month, so stay tuned, dear readers. Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! And remember, be AFRAID of what wanders in the deepest corners of the dark. After all, “our minds are so inviting”…
