My quick rating – 6.6/10. Damn, that creepy ass smile. If there’s one thing Parker Finn’s Smile accomplishes, it’s making grins feel about as welcoming as a rusty bear trap. The movie kicks off with psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) witnessing a patient’s traumatic suicide, and from there, her life nosedives into a cycle of paranoia, hallucinations, and that dreadful grin that follows her like an unwanted subscription you forgot to cancel.
What really works here is how relentless the entity is in tormenting Rose. It’s not just the jump scares—it’s the psychological warfare. That birthday party scene? Oh yeah, that one will stick with you. If I were in her shoes, I don’t think my first instinct would be to keep insisting, “I’m fine.” This isn’t the “walk it off” kind of situation. This is more the “call a priest, a therapist, and maybe buy a flamethrower” variety of problem.
Beneath the horror, Parker Finn uses the story as a metaphor for trauma, showing how it infects every aspect of someone’s life and can easily be passed on. The idea isn’t subtle, but it’s effective, and Bacon carries it beautifully. She nails the role of someone unraveling in slow motion, making you believe every crack in her composure.
For a mid-budget flick, the technical side is surprisingly sharp. Charlie Sarroff’s cinematography is slick and unsettling, with camera angles that feel like the floor itself is judging you. The sound design is also spot-on with unnerving tones and just enough distortion to make you wish you’d watched it with the lights on.
Now, gore hounds shouldn’t expect a buffet, but what’s there works. The kills look solid, but this is a movie where the psychological scares and those brutally timed jump scares do the heavy lifting. And credit where it’s due, the jump scares aren’t the cheap kind that make you hate yourself for falling for them. These are the “dammit, they got me” type that earn their keep.
If there’s a knock against Smile, it’s the ending, which feels a little anticlimactic compared to the rollercoaster leading up to it. It doesn’t ruin the experience, but it does leave you wishing the finale had grinned a little wider. Still, between Finn’s confident debut, Sosie Bacon’s gripping performance, and a few scares that will haunt your dreams, Smile gets under your skin in all the right ways.
