27/12
Seconds later, as he checks the door, he’s wearing lace-up shoes
Chronology
After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, a psychiatrist becomes increasingly convinced that she is threatened by a strange entity. A few days before the release on September 30, 2022, the actors from the film showed up at various baseball games, standing. behind home plate, still and smiling as he looks into the camera, unmoving despite fans in the audience being concerned, while wearing Smile T-shirts. Another soon appeared in the background with the crowd during the Today show.. About 31 minutes in, Rose breaks a glass when her alarm goes off. When the glass is shown at her feet, she is wearing socks. Based on what happens later at a later party, there are several continuity issues that may not be “mistakes”; but it may actually be deliberate to show “pauses”; in Rose’s consciousness/sanity..
Rose Cotter: What are you?
Why are you doing this to me? The monstrosity: Because your mind is so inviting.. Paramount’s opening and closing logos have a curved line in the shape of a smile at the base of the mountain. Featured in Chris Stuckmann Film Reviews: Smile (2022). LollipopWritten by Beverley Ross & Julius Dixon Performed by The Chordettes. I was pretty excited about this movie, not gonna lie. I wasn’t expecting an 11-time Oscar-winning masterpiece, but I was expecting an intense, edge-of-the-seat scare like that of “Insidious”; or 'Sinister', where the film drips with creepy unease from start to finish.
'Smile' it’s not that
What ‘Smile’ does well is build the jump scare, but unfortunately (and more importantly) 'Smile' it forgets to deliver the scares in each of these sequences it repeats throughout its 2 hour running time. For example, the main character will be looking down a dark hallway as the music strains, and the camera will slowly zoom in, and then the phone will ring like this. LOUD. This is NOT a scare! This is just lazy and most of all annoying. These "jump scares" they happen throughout the entire movie and are extremely disastrous. I can respect jump scares if there’s actually something scary at the end of the build, not just a devastatingly loud noise that has nothing to do with the tension that was just wasted.
THAT is a justified jump scare
An example of a CURRENT jump scare would be like when the Lipstick Demon first appears at the table in “Insidious”. The plot “Smile”; and the way the characters reveal it is almost identical to “The Ring”. No new ground was broken, which was to be expected, but I was expecting at least a bit more originality than a copy/paste story from ‘The Ring’. with a good amount of 'It Follows' also copied, but it’s much less than both films. What I thought was pretty good was the ending, when the demon finally reveals itself. The design of the demon and what it does to its victims is actually pretty awesome/horrifying. Unfortunately, by the time we are introduced to the demon Smile, the movie is over.
Too bad, because this movie could have been a nail-to-the-wall chiller
The score for this movie was without a doubt the best and creepiest part. The music reminded me of Sinister’s music as there was something unpleasant about it that made it unsettling. Overall, this movie has been done before and done MUCH better. It has its moments, but it keeps going without getting scary for too long. 6/10.