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Smile begins with psychotherapist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) dealing with a man, who’s talking about the evil visions he’s having about death.
However, a call coming in just as she’s leaving work, also takes her into the world of another patient, a young woman, who’s very nervous and talking about seeing things – in this case, she sees other people – some she knows, and some she doesn’t, but the weird thing is that they’re all smiling inanely. She then takes an action I won’t describe here as I’d consider it a spoiler, but to me, this is either THE or ONE of the reasons this film was an 18-certificate rather than a 15, since there are certain things the BBFC won’t allow at a 15 rating. They do describe it on their website, but I’ll list it below behind a spoiler header in case you do want to spoil it for yourself.
Soon after, Rose reads about another case where a man bludgeoned someone, and smiling was involved, so what’s going on here?
Smile contains some great suspense, along with neat camera work, but Rose won’t be as impressed with this as I was, since as she takes her work home with her, a load of weird shiut starts happening to her (I can’t describe it any other way, but it’s that type of a film), such as when she attends her nephew’s birthday, since to say that goes wrong is an understatement, making me wonder just how much her experience with the young lady is affecting her.
In fact, even fiancee Trevor (pop star Usher… former pop star? He was in Independence Day: Resurgence 3D, anyway) gets irked by her behaviour, making me think there’s some sort of demonic possession happening.
I don’t want to give away too much since that’s for you to discover, but it’s safe to say that Smile sets up a sequel at the end, so I expect that if this one makes enough cash, it could spawn a number of sequels. The downside is that the film has a very slow third act, and the resolution makes no sense, but for the majority of the film, it’s very enjoyable.
And if you’re unsure, Sosie Bacon is the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. i wonder if they’re all on EE?
Now, on to my audience/end credits experience. End credits aren’t too bad at Cineworld, since I’ve only been a few times as of recently. Yes, the lights come on to about the levels of the adverts before the film, but not so bright (unlike Vue Lowry) that they shine onto the screen and stop you actually being able to read what’s there(!)
However, there were two talkers in the audience. The screen I was in had a separate front section of seating, so with those, I like to sit in the middle of the back (third) row of that section, since all the talkers (usually) go to the larger rear section of seating. However, a couple came along, sat on the second row, but while not in front of me, they were sat on the extreme left of the second row. God knows how they saw the screen properly, but even still, they woudl talk occasionally to the point where I had to shush them. And boy, did their voices carry. They are clearly suited for each other!
That said, as they left and I looked at the woman of the couple and she saw me, she stumbled and fell off the step. HA!
I should also have smiled…
And for the reason why this is an 18-certificate:
Smile is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray, and DVD, with the release date not yet known.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 115 minutes
Release date: September 30th 2022
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Format: 2.00:1
Cinema: Cineworld Didsbury
Rating: 7/10
Director: Parker Finn
Producers: Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Robert Salerno
Screenplay: Parker Finn
Music: Cristobal Tapia de Veer
Cast:
Rose Cotter: Sosie Bacon
Laura Weaver: Caitlin Stasey
Joel: Kyle Gallner
Dr. Madeline Northcott: Robin Weigert
Trevor: Jessie T Usher
Nightmare Mom: Kevin Keppy
Dr. Morgan Desai: Kal Penn
Victoria Munoz: Judy Reyes
Holly: Gillian Zinser
Robert Talley: Rob Morgan
Mom: Dora Kiss
Stephanie: Sara Kapner
Greg: Nick Arapoglou
Nurse: Vanessa Cozart
Carl Renken: Jack Sochet
Jackson: Matthew Lamb
Officer Chan: Shu Q
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.