Smile (2022) - Movie Review

What do you get when you take a cast of pretty much unknown actors, give them a brilliant script, and put them in the hands of a visionary up and coming director?

One of the best horror movies of the last decade…

…and one of the best cosmic horror films of all time.

Let’s discuss.

Smile is a 2022 horror/thriller brought to us by writer / director Parker Finn. His name may be unfamiliar now, but I expect you’ll be hearing his name alongside the other titans of the genre like Jordan Peele and James Wan. I first heard of him due to the massive outpouring of love for his short films Laura Hasn’t Slept and The Hidebehind, but I never got the chance to see them. With Smile, I walked in completely blind and was absolutely blown away. When it comes to direction, Finn operates like a master, but it all starts with his brilliant script.

The film focuses on Rose Cotter, a psychiatrist working in the high-stress environment of an emergency psychiatric ward. It’s a career she entered having born witness to the mental decline of her mother, who was died an addict in squalor. Having reached the age at which her mother died, Rose hasn’t been sleeping. She’s been filling her time with work, pulling double the hours of which she’s actually scheduled. Her relationships are beginning to fray as she rarely sees her sister or her fiancee anymore. Then Laura Weaver is brought to the ward. Laura is a college student who recently witnessed her professor’s suicide, and is now convinced that she’s being menaced by a shadowy figure. Rose thinks the girl has had a psychotic break, but after witnessing the girl’s suicide a few minutes later—she begins to experience visions of terror that upend her life. Rose goes on the run, convinced a monster is chasing her, but with no one that believes her and unable to believe her own eyes, how will she survive the menace behind the smile?

This is a Must Watch movie.

Plain and Simple.

It’s one of best movies I’ve seen in a long time.

As someone who watches primarily horror films, I don’t often become affected by them. Meaning, I don’t have nightmares very often, if ever—at least not since I was a kid, but damn…

…did I ever have some wild dreams after this one.

I mentioned that I think this movie is one of the greatest cosmic horror films of all time. Some may scoff as it doesn’t have any sort of space / inter-dimensional theme, like something you’d see in The Colour Out of Space or From Beyond. To those people, I’d refer to other parts of Lovecraft’s mythos such as The Thing on The Doorstep and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Cosmic isn’t always neon colored. It’s about the hopelessness in the face of forces beyond our comprehension.

It’s this essence of Lovecraftian horror that has been adopted by modern Creepy Pasta tales like the heavily Hastur (The King in Yellow) influenced tale The Hanged King’s Tragedy, of which I believe this film was inspired by. An invisible menace that needs to be witnessed to inspire further tragedies.

Now, I in no way mean that this film plagiarizes the creepy pasta / SCP tale, but instead uses it as a muse to spin an incredible illustration of the horrors of generational trauma and addiction.

As both a trauma victim and a recovering addict, I can say this film hit home on every level.

Especially with the brilliant performance of Sosie Bacon. Bacon, most known as the daughter of American Demi-god Kevin Bacon and his extremely talented wife Kyra Sedgwick. However, after this film—I think she’ll be standing on her own talents from now on. She plays her role fearlessly. Not many actresses would be willing to be uglied up and put through the ringer like this. The character of Rose doesn’t wear makeup, only dresses in formless beige attire, and is overall unattractive. She’s a woman on the edge and Bacon plays it so believably, you truly hurt for her.

It helps that the film has amazing sound design and special effects, including unbelievable creature design by Alec Gillis and co. All of these things combined with a musical score which makes the viewer feel like they are losing their minds alongside our heroine make for an incredible atmosphere.

I decided not to do spoilers on this review because…

You NEED to see this movie!

Watch this gem on Amazon Prime and Paramount+.