In one of the all-time best years for the horror movie genre, 2022, fans were granted a toothy surprise with Smile – the feature-length debut from writer and director Parker Finn, based on his short Laura Hasn't Slept. Despite its familiar gimmick, it turned out to be a great horror movie that explores grief and trauma, thanks in part to Sosie Bacon's performance as a psychiatrist who becomes attached to a deadly entity that makes itself known by its menacing grin.
Inevitably, it spawned one of the most anticipated upcoming horror movies on the 2024 movie schedule, in the form of the Naomi Scott-led Smile 2. The original is available with a Paramount+ subscription or a Hulu subscription, but there are other great horror movies like Smile that you can watch while waiting to see where the franchise goes next.
It Follows (2015)
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist
What it’s about: After a disturbing sexual encounter, a young woman becomes haunted by a shapeshifting entity only she can see.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: Featuring a protagonist who inherits a deadly curse passed down through morally challenging means (in this case sexual intercourse), It Follows (one of the best horror movies on Netflix) is a perfect match-up with Smile, despite a quieter tone and differing themes.
How to watch It Follows:
- Stream It Follows on Netflix
- Stream It Follows on Tubi
- Rent or buy It Follows on Amazon
- Buy It Follows on Blu-ray on Amazon
The Ring (2002)
Director: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson
What it’s about: A reporter investigates a series of disturbing deaths related to a mysterious videotape.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: An even more esteemed, terrifying movie about a woman struggling to get rid of a deadly chain curse is The Ring, which is inspired by the acclaimed Japanese horror movie, Ringu.
How to watch The Ring:
Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long
What it’s about: After rejecting an elderly woman's request for a loan extension, a woman falls prey to a demonic curse.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: One of Sam Raimi's best movies, Drag Me to Hell, is yet another freaky curse movie, but also one of the more humorous of the bunch, with a rare scream queen role for star Alison Lohman.
How to watch Drag Me to Hell:
- Stream Drag Me to Hell on Amazon Prime
- Stream Drag Me to Hell on Peacock
- Buy Drag Me to Hell on Blu-ray on Amazon
Hereditary (2018)
Director: Ari Aster
Starring: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff
What it’s about: After a tragic loss, a family's suffering only worsens as they become plagued by a series of unexplainable circumstances.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: At its core, Smile is a meditation on the harmful rippling effect of traumatic experiences, which is also an essential theme of Ari Aster's acclaimed debut shocker, and one of the best A24 horror movies to date, the grief-filled Hereditary.
How to watch Hereditary:
The Babadook (2014)
Director: Jennifer Kent
Starring: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman
What it’s about: A widowed single mother believes that she and her young son are being taunted by an unsettling children's book character.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: The entity in Smile is similar to the titular villain from The Babadook (one of the scariest modern horror movie villains) in that it serves as a metaphorical representation of the protagonist's struggles with grief.
How to watch The Babadook:
- Stream The Babadook on Netflix
- Stream The Babadook on Pluto TV
- Rent or buy The Babadook on Amazon
- Buy The Babadook on Blu-ray on Amazon
Umma (2022)
Director: Iris K. Shim
Starring: Sandra Oh, Fivel Stewart
What it’s about: A Korean-born farmer's relationship with her daughter is threatened when the delivery of her own mother's remains brings upsetting memories to the surface.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: The most important themes from Smile are intergenerational trauma and child abuse, which are also prevalent in Umma, from producer Sam Raimi of Evil Dead infamy.
How to watch Umma:
Director: Mike Flanagan
Starring: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites
What it’s about: A brother and sister try to prove that their disturbing childhood was the work of a mysterious antique mirror.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: Protagonists facing their childhood trauma is also the central focus of one of writer and director Mike Flanagan's best movies, Oculus, which, like Smile, also has a startling and upsetting finale.
How to watch Oculus:
- Stream Oculus on Pluto TV
- Stream Oculus on Plex
- Rent or buy Oculus on Amazon
- Buy Oculus on Blu-ray on Amazon
The Invisible Man (2020)
Director: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge
What it’s about: A woman suspects that her supposedly late, tech billionaire husband has figured out to way to taunt her without being seen.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: Gaslighting is another acknowledged theme in Smile and one of the central themes of Blumhouse's frightening and clever modernized reimagining of the Universal Monster movie classic, The Invisible Man.
How to watch The Invisible Man:
Malignant (2021)
Director: James Wan
Starring: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson
What it’s about: A woman begins to suffer from terrifying visions that, much to her horror, resemble actual murders.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: Gaslighting and abuse are also prevalent themes in James Wan's tribute to Giallo slashers, Malignant, which, like Smile, also involves a protagonist forced to face her past amid a series of strange, deadly occurrences and has a wild final act.
How to watch Malignant:
- Stream Malignant on Max
- Stream Malignant on Peacock
- Rent or buy Malignant on Amazon
- Buy Malignant on Blu-ray on Amazon
Hopefully, these horror movie recommendations put a smile on your face and a chill down your spine.
