Review: Sinister ‘Smile’ delivers chills and thrills necessary for good horror film

George M. Thomas, Akron Beacon Journal

September 29, 2022 at 6:10 AM·4 min read

Oops!
Something went wrong.
Please try again later.

With more than its share of moments that make the hair stand at attention on the back of the neck, “Smile” is a good old-fashioned horror movie.

It’s a throwback to films that provide actual chills and thrills without an overreliance on violence or torture. It’s a supernatural movie with or without a monster that explores the horrors that haunt us all psychologically while providing moments of sheer panic.

It’s utterly refreshing to watch a horror film where the terror comes from some entity other than a blade-wielding (Knife-wielding. Ax-wielding. You pick) maniac who only wants to dismember people or slit throats. Why watch someone else do the latter when, instead, an audience can watch an individual — for some inexplicable reason — do that to herself?

That’s what psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) has to endure. She’s overworked and obviously on the brink of collapse from exhaustion even in the early moments of “Smile.” Unfortunately, fate has plans for her. Just when her boss (Kal Penn) tells her to go home and rest, her office phone rings as she’s walking out the door. An emergency patient arrives at her hospital and Rose feels obligated to help her.

The young woman explains what’s going on in her life to the point where she begins to worry Rose. Moments later, Rose watches in horror as the young woman’s face contorts into a goofy smile and she drags a piece of ceramic across her throat.

That is a heck of a day at the office and, yes, Rose is affected emotionally in its immediate aftermath. That’s not all she is, however.

Strange things happen in ‘Smile’

In short order, strange things (natch) begin to happen in her life. She hears things. She’s less attentive to her personal life, which includes her fiancé Trevor (Jesse T. Usher) and her sister Holly (Gillian Zinser), who takes things personally when Rose begs off of interacting with her family.

Holly thinks for some reason Rose has yet to come to grips with what happened to their mother who killed herself when Rose was 10 years old.

What’s patently clear, however, is Rose isn’t well after that encounter with that patient and she senses that her mental health and that encounter are connected somehow. Trevor is less than understanding about her situation, causing her to seek help from Joel (Kyle Gallner), her ex-cop boyfriend who indulges her story.

While she’s figured out part of the mystery, it’s with Joel’s connections and help that she pieces together the rest, making for chilling discoveries.

Bath, Ohio, native Parker Finn directs ‘Smile’

Written and directed by Bath native Parker Finn, his feature film debut, it’s mildly surprising to not see “Smile” being released closer to Halloween. Knowing “Halloween Ends” is coming out in October helps make it more understandable.

After enduring the “Halloween” franchise since 1978, though, there’s only so much slashing that can be had. “Smile,” which is based on Finn's short, satisfies in that he clearly knows the horror genre’s conventions and knows how to use them to great effect, while passing on the ones that have become cliched.

He uses silence to generate scares masterfully, allowing those moments of sheer terror to arrive with surprise and use others as genuine decoys. Just as importantly, the level of actual violence services the narrative as opposed to overwhelming it.

Wrapped in that story is not only hair-raising terror, but a mystery as well, and all of it keeps the audience captivated.

In Bacon (daughter of actor Kevin Bacon), he has an actress who conveys chilling aspects of his story well. First of all, the audience watches as she devolves on the screen and, just as importantly, there’s little telling whether Rose is actually under the influence of some unseen force or going slowly mad in front of our eyes. The primary weak spot comes in answering that question in the movies ending, which might be polarizing for some.

There’s little arguing, however, that “Smile” mostly delivers what it sets out to do — raise the hair on your body.

George M. Thomas dabbles in movies and television for the Beacon Journal. Reach him at gthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByGeorgeThomas