‘Smile 2’ movie review: Naomi Scott’s shines through Parker Finn’s simpering horror sequel

A still from ‘Smile 2’
| Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Given M. Night Shyamalan’s recent dabblings in pop-star horror, you’d be forgiven for approaching Smile 2 with the same caution you reserve for comeback albums — braced for disappointment but secretly hoping for a hit. Luckily, Parker Finn’s sequel delivers the goods, though whether it’s pleasant or unpleasant depends entirely on your tolerance for jump scares and fame-induced mania.

Following the success of the 2022 original, which turned the iconic unsettling smirks into box-office gold, the sequel takes the same premise and gives it a flashy makeover. Finn eschews the horror-sequel temptations to over-explain his mythology, sticking instead to what worked in the first film. The result is an unnervingly fun, if occasionally overstretched, horror romp that proves the only thing scarier than unresolved trauma might be a PR crisis.

At the centre of the brewing disaster is Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a troubled pop sensation trying to piece together her career after a catastrophic fall-off. Fresh off a tragic car crash that killed her boyfriend and sent her spiralling into addiction, Skye is poised for a grand comeback tour — if only the universe would let her. Instead, after witnessing her drug dealer’s spectacularly gory suicide-by-free-weight, Skye finds herself hounded by the same malevolent smile that cursed the first film’s characters. What follows is a series of delusions, visitations, and gruesome encounters that test the limits of both Skye’s sanity and our suspension of disbelief.

A still from ‘Smile 2’
| Photo Credit:
Paramount Pictures

Much like Finn’s first film, Smile 2 mines the intersection of mental health and horror, though this time with a sharp focus on the pressures of fame. Finn explores the unholy marriage between trauma and celebrity, where stars are expected to hide their scars behind sequins and bright lights. Scott’s Skye becomes a tragic figure, haunted not just by demons but by an entourage of sycophants oblivious to her unravelling. Her label expects diva behaviour, and her every breakdown is dismissed as mere theatrics — until the bodies start piling up.

Scott is the film’s ace in the hole. Her performance is as convincing on stage as it is off, and captures both the veneer of a pop idol and the vulnerability of someone barely holding it together. Skye’s arc — juggling a PR redemption tour, invasive fans, and unresolved trauma — feels grounded, even as Finn takes the terror to cartoonish extremes. Finn’s talent lies in making hallucinations indistinguishable from reality. Skye’s visions of smiling strangers — whether it’s a fan flashing braces at a meet-and-greet or the ghostly visage of her dead boyfriend — does a fine job of keeping us on edge.

A still from ‘Smile 2’
| Photo Credit:
Paramount Pictures

If there’s a flaw in this sequel, it’s that the scares start to feel like a broken record a while in. How many times can an encounter with the same, devious grin land before it loses impact? Skye spends large swaths of the movie reacting to increasingly surreal situations but with little sense of agency, as though her demons (both internal and external) are driving the tour bus while she’s left as passenger. It’s not until the final act — after some cryptic text messages prod her toward action — that the narrative kicks into high gear.

Finn’s knack for staging set pieces also shines through, particularly in a sequence where Skye’s backup dancers contort and crawl through her apartment. It’s a deliriously entertaining moment that exemplifies Finn’s ability to meld camp with genuine unease. Yet by the end, perhaps too much in love with his growing mythology, Finn veers into maximalist body horror, and offers up a disorienting climax that takes away from the terror of the original.

Ultimately, Smile 2 thrives in its messy, meta exploration of fame, that wrings gruesomeness out of the glamour. Finn’s vision of stardom as both a dream and a nightmare lands with surprising resonance, making this sequel more than just a rinse-and-repeat exercise. Sure, it might not answer every lingering question — including why the demon feels at home among record producers and PR reps — but good luck wiping that dumb grin off your face once the credits roll.

Smile 2 is currently running in theatres