Smile

The year’s most boring horror film, posing as a psychological drama, expects us to grin and bear it.

Funny Face: Jack Sochet

“Smile though your heart is aching, Smile even though it’s breaking…” Actually, there’s little to smile about during the length of this sterile, tedious franchise wannabe. It presents a flimsy and familiar premise dragged out to almost two hours (it feels longer), with the gimmick of a smiling death mask tacked on for good measure. The concept of an evil entity hopping from one body to the next is hardly a novel one, with or without a smile plastered on its face. The Joker in his many guises saw the funny side, as did Pennywise The Dancing Clown in It (2017), the highest-grossing horror film of all time. Parker Finn’s Smile would like to jump on the bandwagon, but it’s a long-drawn-out shaggy dog tale with nowhere to go and is unlikely to hang around for long. At least, once the word gets out.

In spite of its many shortcomings, the film is a reasonable showcase for Sosie Bacon, the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. Bearing a passing resemblance to a young Barbara Hershey (with a dash of Hilary Swank), she ably conveys the compassionate intelligence of a therapist who witnesses a patient cut her own throat in front of her – with a smile on her face. Likewise, when she starts being plagued by gruesome gurning hallucinations, her mental deterioration is relatively convincing. Thanks to Sosie Bacon’s presence and the steely lighting of Charlie Sarroff, the film frequently gives the impression of being better than it is. But then the old horror tropes are trotted out, along with the predictable jump scares, spacing out much of the unutterable dialogue. We’ve seen it all before – so many times – and the gimmick isn’t fooling anyone.

JAMES CAMERON-WILSON

Cast: Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Robin Weigert, Caitlin Stasey, Kal Penn, Rob Morgan, Judy Reyes, Gillian Zinser, Dora Kiss, Jack Sochet. 

Dir Parker Finn, Pro Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner and Robert Salerno, Screenplay Parker Finn, Ph Charlie Sarroff, Pro Des Lester Cohen, Ed Elliot Greenberg, Music Cristobal Tapia de Veer, Costumes Alexis Forte, Sound Dan Kenyon. 

Paramount Players/Temple Hill Entertainment-Paramount Pictures.
116 mins. USA. 2022. UK Rel: 28 September 2022. US Rel: 30 September 2022. Cert. 18.