Arriving just in time for Halloween 2024, Smile 2 just got off to a strong start at the box office, the sequel’s ticket sales notably exceeding those of its 2022 predecessor in its debut. Given the upcoming spooky holiday and strong buzz from critics, the film is also expected to do well in its second weekend – but if it were left to writer/director Parker Finn, he would have everyone who has already seen the new horror movie see it again, as he promises that there are details built into the feature that you can only pick up on via multiple viewings.
One of the things that makes the antagonist in the Smile movies so terrifying is its ability to warp the reality of its target – and what that means for the films is that the audience can’t always believe what they are seeing. In the case of Smile 2, movie-goers are locked into the perspective of Naomi Scott’s Skye Riley, and by time we get to the story’s bonkers conclusion, it’s made clear that not everything we’ve seen happen to her happened anywhere outside her own mind. As captured in the video above, I asked Parker Finn about how he delineates the horror of the entity from “reality,” and he explained that paying attention is a key part of his process:
That's kind of always present on my mind both from the writing stage and also how I'm directing both the performance and how we're capturing it on the day. And I think that it's really apropos to some of the themes and the motifs that we're exploring – this idea of not being able to trust your own mind.
Without getting too deep into spoilers, there are scenes in Smile 2 where the audience breaks from Skye Riley’s perspective, and we understand a deeper, horrifying truth about what’s going on with her. For the majority of the adventure, however, we are locked into her point of view, and that means that the demon is manipulating both Skye and the audience simultaneously. Finn continued,
Because we're tied subjectively to Skye, we sort of see her reality and then sometimes we break from her reality and see how things are different. And I wanted to make sure that coming out of the first film into the second, that there were still new ways that I could sort of surprise and maybe gaslight the audience as I'm doing the same thing to the character.
All that being said, there are still big follow-up questions to ask. We can draw some conclusions from what Parker Finn presents to us when the movie splits from Skye’s perspective, but it’s hardly a full picture. The audience gets a few purposefully placed contradictions to guide us to answers… but it really leads to more questions. For example, unless it’s directly contradicted or supported by reality, can we believe anything that occurs beyond Skye’s point of view? Does she meet some characters who simply don’t exist? (Again, I’m avoiding spoilers here.)
The audience is left to decide some truths for themselves, and the reality is that even Parker Finn says he doesn’t have firm answers to all of the questions with which Smile 2 leaves you:
I have a lot of theories, but I really love this idea of occasionally allowing the audience to project upon it and draw some of their own conclusions and connect their own dots. And I think there's really fun things too, especially on a second watch where you might pick up and be like, 'Oh wait I'm seeing that now.'
When one watches a movie for a second time, understanding the beats of the story and the arcs of the characters, there is a freedom to appreciate small, quick little details and register sly foreshadowing that went over your head the first time. Parker Finn is a filmmaker who understands the fun in this, and he made sure that audiences would get that satisfaction from Smile 2. Said the writer/director,
I love films that have something new on a second watch, and I'm always trying to put that kind of stuff into my films – whether it's certain deeper meanings, certain either character or thematic connections across the film, but especially like little Easter eggs or little nods or little things where I love to dangle things in front of the audience's nose, where the first time they miss it completely and then the second time they're like, 'Oh, wow, I can't believe I missed that.' That's always really fun for me, and I love that as an audience member, so I try to do that in my films.
Even if you don’t go purely for the second-viewing treats, Smile 2 is a film worth seeing twice because it is one of the best horror movies to come out this fall and among the best genre titles of the year. If you need more convincing, read my four-star review for CinemaBlend.
