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Smile (2022 film)

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Smile is a 2022 American psychological horror film written and directed by Parker Finn (in his feature directorial debut), based on his 2020 short film Laura Hasn't Slept.[3] The film stars Sosie Bacon as a therapist named Rose Cotter, who, after witnessing the bizarre suicide of a patient, goes through increasingly disturbing and daunting experiences, leading her to believe what she is experiencing is supernatural. It also stars Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Kal Penn, and Rob Morgan, as well as Caitlin Stasey playing the same character she played in the short film.

A feature adaptation of Finn's short was announced in June 2020, and the cast was added in October 2021. Principal photography began that month in New Jersey and ended in November. Originally set for release on the streaming service Paramount+, distributor Paramount Pictures opted to release the film theatrically after positive test screenings.

Smile premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 22, 2022, and was released in the United States on September 30. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised the visuals, themes, cinematography, and Bacon's performance, but criticized some of its jump scares and noted similarities to other horror films The Ring and It Follows. It was a box office success, grossing $216 million worldwide against a $17 million budget.

Plot[]

At a psychiatric ward, therapist Dr. Rose Cotter meets with Laura Weaver, a graduate student who witnessed her art history professor die by suicide several days earlier. Laura claims that an entity taking the form of smiling people has been terrorizing her and has told her that she is going to die. Soon thereafter, Laura stumbles to the floor and begins screaming. After Rose calls for help, she sees Laura standing up and smiling. With a shard of a broken vase, Laura kills herself by slitting her throat. Rose later sees her manic patient Carl smiling and shouting that she's going to die. Rose calls for nurses to restrain him, only to see he was asleep the whole time. Concerned for Rose's mental well-being, her supervisor Dr. Morgan Desai gives her a week off.

In the following days, the hallucinations continue, making Rose seem unhinged and dangerous to people around her, including her family and friends. She visits her former therapist, Dr. Madeline Northcott, who suggests that her problems stem from her abusive and mentally ill mother, whose death from an overdose she witnessed as a child. At her nephew's birthday party, Rose's gift had been replaced by her dead cat, horrifying the children. She sees a party guest smiling at her and falls onto a glass table, ending the party in chaos. Rose begins to suspect she has been cursed by some sort of supernatural entity but is unable to get her fiancé Trevor to believe her.

Upon learning Laura's professor was grinning at her before his death, Rose visits his widow, Victoria, and learns he became increasingly unstable after witnessing a woman die by suicide several days prior to his death. Rose asks her ex-boyfriend Joel, a police detective, to go through police records. They find several cases where someone witnessed a suicide, then a few days later died by suicide in front of someone else, who continued the pattern.

Rose visits her sister Holly and attempts to explain the situation, but only further strains their relationship as they get into an argument comparing Rose's behavior to their late mother as Rose finally snaps and responds to how she doesn't know anything to what happened. The hallucinations continue to escalate in intensity. Joel calls her, revealing that he discovered all the witnesses died by suicide within a week, thus finding out himself Rose is in fact cursed. The exception was Robert Talley, who instead murdered someone else. Rose and Joel visit Robert in jail, where the latter claims the entity feeds on trauma, and the only way to escape it is to kill someone in front of a witness in a brutal enough fashion to cause major psychological trauma, passing the entity to them. Rose angrily rejects the option and leaves.

She is confronted at home by the entity in Madeline's form, where it gleefully warns her she's running out of time. Rose impulsively drives to her hospital with a knife and murders Carl in front of Morgan to pass the entity to him, when he suddenly begins to peel off his face. She discovers the whole event was a hallucination and she had been in her car the whole time. She hastily drives away, though not before Morgan spots the knife. Worried about the danger she may pose, he alerts the police.

Rose drives to her abandoned family home, convinced that she can't pass on the entity if she remains alone. Rose confronts the entity in the form of her mother, where it is revealed that as a child, Rose had fearfully ignored her pleas for help after she overdosed and accidentally left her to die. The entity attacks Rose, but she manages to subdue it, then set it on fire before fleeing the burning house. She is pictured driving away from her old house, and it appears that she is free of the entity's curse. She drives to Joel's apartment, where he comforts her. When Joel starts smiling, Rose realizes she never left the old house and the entity is still alive.

Soon, the real Joel pulls up, having tracked Rose's phone. Rose, convinced that he may be the entity or its next victim, runs screaming into the house and locks Joel out, only to realize she has accidentally locked herself in with the entity. The entity approaches the now despairing Rose and immediately rips off its own skin to reveal its true form – a grotesque humanoid creature with multiple sets of malformed jaws nested within an enormous, smiling mouth. Upon seeing this, Rose is completely paralyzed from shock, and the entity forces itself inside her body through her mouth. Joel breaks down the front door only to see a smiling Rose set herself on fire, passing the entity onto him.

Cast[]


  • Sosie Bacon as Dr. Rose Cotter
    • Meghan Brown Pratt as 10-year-old Rose
  • Jessie T. Usher as Trevor, Rose's fiancé
  • Kyle Gallner as Joel, Rose's ex-boyfriend and a police detective
  • Kal Penn as Dr. Morgan Desai, Rose's boss and friend
  • Rob Morgan as Robert Talley, a prisoner
  • Robin Weigert as Dr. Madeline Northcott, Rose's therapist
  • Caitlin Stasey as Laura Weaver, a PhD student and Rose's patient
  • Gillian Zinser as Holly Cotter, Rose's older sister
  • Judy Reyes as Victoria Muñoz, Gabriel's wife
  • Felix Melendez Jr. as Gabriel Muñoz, Laura's professor
  • Jack Sochet as Carl Renken, a mentally unstable patient
  • Nick Arapoglou as Greg, Holly's husband
  • Dora Kiss as Rose and Holly's mother
  • Sara Kapner as Stephanie, the party guest whose form the entity took
  • Kevin Keppy as Nightmare Mom, the entity in the form of Rose and Holly's mother
  • Marti Matulis as the Smile Entity, an evil being that feeds off of trauma


Themes[]

Smile explores several themes and devices common to the horror genre, such as trauma, grief, and guilt. As the audience follows through the lens of protagonist Dr. Rose Cotter, she becomes an increasingly unreliable narrator, further blurring lines between delusions and reality, an area upon which she should, in theory, have a firm grasp as a clinical psychologist.[4] The concept and effects of trauma are explored at various levels. On a clinical level, Rose may be seen as experiencing vicarious trauma (wherein therapists experience trauma as a result of treating their patients’ trauma) as she treats patients. On a more metaphorical level, the cyclical nature of trauma is seen through the antagonist monster’s process of causing one victim to spread their trauma to other victims. The deeper extent of personal trauma is shown through the multiple endings experienced by Rose as she confronts her more fully revealed past trauma, only to be forced to relive it.

Critics point out that the concept of being consumed by one’s trauma to the point that trauma manifests as an identity is observably common within the genre.[5] As such, Smile has been thematically compared to other horror movies such as The Babadook and It Follows, among others.

As Katie Rife from New York's Vulture explains, "Smile is both an extension and a repudiation of the trauma plot, incorporating its traits and tropes while denying viewers the familiar catharsis of conquering the monster."[4] Indeed, writer-director Parker Finn chose to include multiple endings to the film as an attempt to subvert savvy viewers' predictions related to the typical trauma-plot.[6]

Production[]

Template:Paraphrase In June 2020, Parker Finn was tapped by Paramount Pictures to write and direct a feature adaptation of his own short film Laura Hasn't Slept, which saw a young woman seeking the help of her therapist desperate to rid herself of a recurring nightmare. Earlier in March that year, the short film won the Special Jury Recognition Prize for South by Southwest's Midnight Short category.[7] In September 2021, the film was announced under the title Something's Wrong with Rose with Sosie Bacon cast as the titular character.[8] The following month, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Rob Morgan, Kal Penn, Judy Reyes, Gillian Zinser, and Caitlin Stasey joined the cast.[9]

Principal photography began on October 11, 2021,[10] in New Jersey, including in the city of Hoboken,[11] and finished on November 24, 2021.[12] The film is attributed as entirely filmed in New Jersey, especially locations of scenes in Elizabeth, Hoboken, Jersey City, Kearny, Newark, North Arlington, Montclair and Morristown. Filming took place at various type of locations, a jail, houses, businesses, school and parks. The Union County Jail in Elizabeth, the Halifax restaurant at the W Hotel, River Walk Bike Lane, Union Hall in Hoboken, a townhouse on Bentley Avenue in Jersey City, the Jersey Oil in Kearny, Murphy Varnish Lofts, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, Arlington Diner in North Arlington, a house in Montclair, and Lewis Morris Park in Morristown were filming locations for several scenes.[13]

Editing and post-production started on December 3, 2021,[14] and lasted through the end of May 2022,[15] visual effects was done by the-Artery and was supervised by Yuval Levy and Vico Sharabani, when the film was simply retitled Smile.[16] The film's score was composed by Cristobal Tapia de Veer.[17] For practical effects, Finn recruited Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. of Amalgamated Dynamics, who he described as a major influence in wanting to be a horror filmmaker for their work in films such as Aliens.[18]

Marketing[]

Promotional materials that were released included an eight-second teaser on May 26, a 40-second teaser trailer shown at screenings of Top Gun: Maverick and Crimes of the Future in early June 2022,[16] and a two-minute trailer and poster on June 22. Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting described the footage as "pretty generic", but said it stood out due to its similarities to Ringu and The Ring.[19] Shania Russell at /Film compared the film to The Ring, It Follows and Truth or Dare and wrote, "It's all very familiar and probably not too hard to imagine how the movie will progress, but the scares will make or break the experience, and based on the trailer, Smile is more than promising."[20]

During several Major League Baseball games the weekend before the film's release, an apparent viral marketing stunt occurred, as the studio or marketing firm purchased seats behind home plate, with actors smiling maniacally into the camera for the pitcher-batter shot for extended periods of time. Some of the actors wore shirts with the name and logo of the film on the front.[21][22]

A tie-in with the Craiyon text-to-image generator involved AI generation of images of nightmarish smiles.[23][24][25]

Release[]

Smile had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 22, 2022,[26] followed by screenings at Beyond Fest on September 27.[27] It was released in the United States on September 30, 2022, by Paramount Pictures.[28] Paramount Pictures President and CEO Brian Robbins said that Smile was originally slated for a streaming-only release on Paramount+, but the studio eventually decided to release the film theatrically because of strong results from test screenings.[29]

The film was released for VOD platforms including Paramount+ on November 15, 2022,[30] with a DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD set released on December 13, 2022.[31]

Reception[]

Box office[]

Smile grossed $105.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $110.2 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $216.1 million.[2]

In the United States and Canada, Smile was released alongside Bros, and was projected to gross $16–20 million from 3,645 theaters in its opening weekend.[1] The film made $8.2 million on its first day, including $2 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $22.6 million, topping the box office and slightly overperforming its projections, while being the biggest debut of September 2022.[32][33] The film made $18.4 million in its sophomore weekend, remaining atop the box office. The 18% second weekend drop was the second-smallest ever for a horror film behind Get Out's 15% in February 2017, and marked the best non-holiday hold of the pandemic era.[34] Although it was dethroned by newcomer Halloween Ends in its third weekend the film continued to hold well, making $12.6 million.[35] On November 9, 2022, it became only the third R-rated film released in the pandemic era to gross $100 million domestically, as well as becoming the highest-grossing R-rated horror film worldwide during the pandemic.

Critical response[]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 182 reviews, and an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Deeply creepy visuals and a standout Sosie Bacon further elevate Smile's unsettling exploration of trauma, adding up to the rare feature that satisfyingly expands on a short."[36] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[37] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave the film a 69% overall positive score, with 53% saying they would definitely recommend it.[32]

Marisa Mirabal of IndieWire gave the film a grade of B−, noting its plot's similarities to films such as It Follows, The Ring, Oculus and Final Destination. She wrote: "Smile navigates unhealed trauma through a supernatural lens and mischievous juxtaposition, despite feeling like a shadow of other stories", and added that it "delivers a captivating and claustrophobic mental hellscape that will cause one to both grimace and grin."[38] Tasha Robinson of Polygon wrote: "Smile is often a gimmicky, even corny horror movie, packed with so many jump-scares that the sheer pile-on borders on laughable... But no matter how excessively the legitimate scares pile up, they're startling and convincing. The editing and music are impressively tuned for maximum impact whenever the slow-burning tension resolves with an abrupt, ugly surprise. All of which makes Smile an efficient ride, if an unusually unrelenting one."[39]

Katie Rife of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, writing: "In padding out the concept from an 11-minute short into a nearly two-hour movie, Smile leans too heavily not only on formulaic mystery plotting, but also on horror themes and imagery lifted from popular hits like The Ring and It Follows."[40] Kevin Maher of The Times wrote: "There are some nice jump scares and Bacon is charismatic but it's achingly derivative and dull", and gave the film 2 out of 5 stars.[41] Jeffrey M. Anderson of Common Sense Media also gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, writing: "The image of a creepy, sinister smile is so primal and so chilling that it might have inspired something truly penetrating, but, sadly, this horror movie is content to fall back on noisy jump scares."[42]

Future[]

Although Finn doesn't immediately have an idea for a sequel, he stated:[43][44]

Template:Quotation

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rubin, Rebecca (September 28, 2022). "Billy Eichner's Gay Rom-Com 'Bros' Takes on Creepy Thriller 'Smile' at Box Office". Variety. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Template:Cite Box Office Mojo
  3. ↑ Squires, John (November 30, 2022). 'Laura Hasn't Slept' – Watch the Original Short Film That Became This Year's 'Smile' [Video]. Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved on November 30, 2022.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Rife, Katie (October 5, 2022). Let's Talk About the Ending(s) of Smile.
  5. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sehgal, Parul (December 23, 2021). "The Case Against the Trauma Plot". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  6. ↑ Robinson, Tasha (September 30, 2022). Smile director Parker Finn unpacks the movie's many endings.
  7. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 9, 2020). Paramount, Temple Hill Set Feature Version Of Horror Short 'Laura Hasn't Slept'. Retrieved on June 9, 2020.
  8. ↑ Rubin, Rebecca (September 22, 2021). 'Mare of Easttown' Actor Sosie Bacon to Star in 'Something's Wrong With Rose' for Paramount Players (EXCLUSIVE). Retrieved on September 22, 2021.
  9. ↑ Squires, John (October 8, 2021). Paramount Players Horror Movie 'Something's Wrong With Rose' Will Star Kyle Gallner and Kal Penn. Retrieved on October 8, 2021.
  10. ↑ Template:Cite Instagram
  11. ↑ Tripucka, Jennifer (October 28, 2021). Here's What We Know About the Movie Filming in Hoboken This Week. Retrieved on October 28, 2021.
  12. ↑ Template:Cite Instagram
  13. ↑ Bros, The Greatest Beer Run in History, and Smile - All Filmed In Jersey (September 28, 2022).
  14. ↑ Template:Cite Instagram
  15. ↑ Template:Cite Instagram
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Navarro, Meagan (June 3, 2022). Mysterious New 'Smile' Theatrical Teaser Brings Unsettling Grin and Release Date. Retrieved on June 3, 2022.
  17. ↑ Brady, Erin (October 5, 2022). Cool Stuff: The Smile Soundtrack Is Getting A Vinyl Release From Mondo.
  18. ↑ Navarro, Megan (September 28, 2022). 'Smile' Writer/Director Parker Finn on the Film's Practical Effects and Horror Influences (Interview). Retrieved on September 28, 2022.
  19. ↑ Miska, Brad (June 22, 2022). The 'Smile' Trailer Is Finally Here and Taunts, "You're Going to Die!".
  20. ↑ Russell, Shania (June 22, 2022). Smile Trailer: Paramount's Upcoming Horror Flick Gives New Meaning To 'If Looks Could Kill'.
  21. ↑ Ettenhoffer, Valerie (September 24, 2022). A Viral Marketing Campaign For Smile Is Photobombing Baseball Games (And The Today Show).
  22. ↑ Curtis, Charles (September 27, 2022). Those MLB fans creeping you out smiling behind home plate? It was all a movie marketing ploy.
  23. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Craiyon [@craiyonai] (September 29, 2022). "Want to make nightmare fuel smiles? 😈..." (Tweet). Retrieved September 29, 2022 – via Twitter.
  24. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Smile Movie [@SmileMovie] (September 26, 2022). "It's time to spread the smile. Generate yours at craiyon.com. #SmileMovie" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ↑ T, Amber (September 26, 2022). Put A SMILE On Your Face With Craiyon's Creepy New AI Model.
  26. ↑ Rubin, Rebecca (August 16, 2022). Fantastic Fest Unveils 2022 Lineup, Featuring Smile, Anya Taylor-Joy's The Menu and Park Chan-wook Tribute. Retrieved on August 16, 2022.
  27. ↑ Miska, Brad (September 13, 2022). Beyond Fest Brings 'Hellraiser' to the Big Screen Along With 'Halloween Ends' and 'Christmas Bloody Christmas'!. Retrieved on September 13, 2022.
  28. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 26, 2022). Paramount Dates 'Smile' For Fall. Retrieved on May 26, 2022.
  29. ↑ Huston, Caitlin (September 7, 2022). Paramount Film Chief Plans to Ramp Up Theatrical Release Output. Retrieved on September 7, 2022.
  30. ↑ Rogers, Kaniya. 'Smile' is now available to watch at home — here's how to stream the hit horror movie (en-US).
  31. ↑ Smile DVD Release Date.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 2, 2022). "'Smile' Sees $2M In Previews, 'Don't Worry Darling' Ends First Week With $25.5M+ – Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  33. ↑ Pamela McClintock (October 2, 2022). Box Office: 'Smile' Laughs to $22M Opening as 'Bros' Frowns With $4.8M.
  34. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 9, 2022). "'Smile' Posts Best Second Weekend Hold For R-Rated Horror Film After 'Get Out'; Audiences Never Got High On 'Amsterdam' – Sunday AM Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  35. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 16, 2022). "'Halloween Ends' Opening Lower Than Expected With $41M+: Blame Day & Date Peacock Release As Sequel Is Most Watched On Streamer – Sunday Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  36. ↑ Smile.
  37. ↑ Smile (2022) Reviews. Metacritic.
  38. ↑ Mirabal, Marisa (September 24, 2022). 'Smile' Review: Parker Finn's Supernatural Take on Trauma Will Make You Grimace and Grin.
  39. ↑ Robinson, Tasha (September 23, 2022). Smile tickles the brain and terrifies without remorse.
  40. ↑ Rife, Katie (September 23, 2022). Smile movie review & film summary (2022).
  41. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Maher, Kevin. "Smile review — you may be cursed and have to grin and bear it". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  42. ↑ Anderson, Jeffrey M.. Smile Movie Review.
  43. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Robinson, Tasha (September 30, 2022). "Smile director Parker Finn unpacks the movie's many endings ('Horror audiences have gotten so savvy, so I tried to put myself in their shoes')". polygon.com. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  44. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Davids, Brian (December 9, 2022). "How Parker Finn's 'Smile' Went From Streaming to Theatrical in a Single Night". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 9, 2022.

External links[]

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