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Smile 2: Smile Harder… (nah, that’s not the correct title, as this sequel just following the basic Playstation naming system) opens “6 days later”, i.e. after the first Smile movie ended, with cop Joel (Kyle Gallner – Strange Darling) having been saddled with the curse, and is still trying to get rid of it.
A chance soon comes as he takes a man with a fancy car hostage, making you think he’s going to hijack it, but we know he has more pressing issues at hand. Can he succeed? Either way, like with the first film, plenty of gore will ensue before too long.
Moving on to the sequel’s protagonist, pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott, proving that short hair on women is so hot), we first meet her on ‘Drew’, talking to Ms Barrymore about how it’s one year on since she survived a car crash in which her boyfriend and fellow actor, Paul Hudson (Ray Nicholson – Panic), died, so she has ‘Survivor’s Guilt’, and to which we are shown flashbacks from time to time, but a rather icky operation scar causing is problems for her when it comes to dancing to her pop tunes.
I also have operation scars, but then I’m not Britney Spears or Lady Gaga.
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However, since regular meds aren’t helping her, she gets her Vicodin in secret from stoner Lewis Fregoli (Lukas Gage – Road House 2024), who has a propensity to smile a lot, as does a number of her fans at a later Meet & Greet session where she’ll get pictures taken with them, including the grinning small girl from the trailer, who is beyond creepy!
Add in her overbearing mother, Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt – The Staircase), also doubling up as her manager, along with getting her friend Gemma (Dylan Gelula – Loot) back into her life, after they had a big falling out following the crash, and the stress of everything causing Skye to keep tearing her hair out in clumps, it’s no wonder she’s on Stress Farm.
Plus, there’s some anonymous text messages coming through. Are they doing it to scare her, or can they help with a cure in some way? And are they coming from someone in the here and now, or beyond the grave? Either way, I thought if they were trying to help, why are they using the old movie trope of being as stupidly vague as possible?
Overall, while the first film was good, Smile 2 is an improvement, as it has strong consistency throughout and everyone’s acting being on-point, especially that of Ms Scott in the lead, even if the film does copy some elements of the original, such as…
It’s also good to see Naomi Scott in a decent film, after the pointless 2017 Power Rangers, and 2019 Charlie’s Angels reboots!
One aspect to bring up again is that this is another theatrical movie presented with the ridiculous 2.00:1 widescreen aspect ratio. I understand this was used by writer/director Parker Finn for the first film, as it was initially expected to go straight to streaming, but it would’ve been well-known to him that this sequel was being made for cinemas.
If you’re watching this on a 1.85:1 screen, then you’ll experience no issues, but some cinemas mostly have wider 2.39:1-shaped screens. Since most cinemas don’t have a separate setting for inbetween ratios like 2.00:1, it just gets treated like a 1.85:1 film, so you as well as the expected black bars at the sides, you also get them top and bottom, and it just looks bloody ridiculous.
Hence, I ensured I watched this one on a 1.85:1 screen.
There is no mid- or post-credit scene.
Oh, and see above in this review for why Channel 4 – the channel which already prides itself on NEVER cutting a film post-watershed – can go fuck themselves.
Smile 2 is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on 4K Blu-ray, 4K Blu-ray Limited Edition Steelbook, Blu-ray and DVD, ahead of its release date TBA.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 127 minutes
Release date: October 18th 2024
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1 (ARRIRAW (6.5K, 4.5K)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 8/10
Director: Parker Finn
Producers: Marty Bowen, Parker Finn, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Robert Salerno
Screenplay: Parker Finn
Music: Cristobal Tapia de Veer
Cast:
Skye Riley: Naomi Scott
Elizabeth Riley: Rosemarie DeWitt
Lewis Fregoli: Lukas Gage
Joshua: Miles Gutierrez-Riley
Morris: Peter Jacobson
Paul Hudson: Ray Nicholson
Gemma: Dylan Gelula
Darius: Raúl Castillo
Joel: Kyle Gallner
Herself: Drew Barrymore
Alexi: Zebedee Row
Yev: Roberts Jekabsons
Maksim: Sean Stolzen
Anton: Jon Rua
Smiling Girl: Mila Falkof
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.