At The Movies: Gory sequel Smile 2 remixes pop stardom with slasher thrills

Smile 2 (M18)

127 minutes, now showing
★★★★☆

The story: This standalone sequel, set some days after the events of Smile (2022), finds pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) preparing for a major tour, her first after a car crash that killed her friend and nearly ended her life. Her mother-manager Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt) insists she gets her career in high gear as quickly as possible. Burying her post-crash emotional and physical pain comes at a price: Skye sees people around her sporting an identical menacing grin.

The subject of psychological trauma can be explored on film in several ways. Most of the time, the setting is a family drama in which unresolved pain emerges as parental neglect or drug abuse.

These days, the genre of horror is the preferred medium to explore the effects of grief or depression, as seen in The Babadook (2014) or Hereditary (2018).

Smile and its sequel, which has a standalone story – save for a brief, blackly comic opening scene that serves as connective tissue between the two films – also uses horror to talk about trauma.

American writer-director Parker Finn borrows heavily from slasher films. There is a killer on the loose, except it lives inside its victims – causing them to harm others, or themselves, in spectacularly gruesome ways.

The gore porn – face it, it is why folks watch this – is well-executed. The deaths are unpredictable and not only look painful, but also generate feelings of discomfort. Viewers may feel like thrill-seeking voyeurs, which fits into the idea that bearing witness to horror damages the soul in a manner that resembles a demonic possession.

While there is some lore behind the demon which possesses its victims, turning them homicidal or suicidal, Finn wisely chooses to leave most of it unsaid. He understands that any explanation is over-explanation – pointing at ancient artefacts, creepy dolls or sordid town histories is irrelevant filler.

Instead, he dives into Smile 2’s new twist. Skye Riley is a pop diva in the mould of American artistes Beyonce, Taylor Swift or Ariana Grande – the kind with a fanatical global following because she is the complete singing and dancing package.

Skye has everything she could ever want, except for therapy, because downtime would cost her label too much money.

Scott (Aladdin, 2019; Charlie’s Angels, 2019) delivers a powerhouse performance as Skye, talented and beautiful but broken. The British actress’ hair-raising portrayal of what it means to be worked to death under the glare of spotlights is a reminder of every female artiste lost to drugs and suicide.

Hot take: Scott puts her musical background to stunning use as Skye, the diva terrorised by a demonic force.