Spoiler-Free Review of “Smile” in Theaters: Unsettling and Completely Terrifying!

*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*

“Before she died, she was smiling…”

Smile premiered in theaters on September 30th 2022. The supernatural psychological horror film stars Sosie Bacon, Kyle Gallner, Jessie T. Usher, Gillian Zinser, and Kal Penn. It runs for an hour and fifty-five minutes.

After witnessing a disturbing and traumatic event featuring one of her patients, Dr. Rose Cotter starts to think that she may be hallucinating when she sees and hears things she cannot explain, which threatens her own sanity.

Here is the trailer:

Smile delivers with atmospheric horror that will leave you completely petrified, channeling films like It Follows. Is it worthy of your next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Creepy AF!

This movie freaked me out in the best way possible. Those smiles were completely chilling and even the jump scares were well done. There was this disturbing vibe that slithered through the entire film. It never really faded away, making this a startling, but enjoyable watch.

Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Believable lead.

I thought that Sosie Bacon did a really good job with this. Her character was believable and she really went all in with her performance. I’m not sure that this film would have worked so well if she didn’t seem so utterly frightened and deranged all the time. She really committed to this role, making everything else flow together seamlessly, connecting to her character’s own past trauma in an effective way.

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Predictable at times and a little too long…

I saw the ending of this movie coming a mile away. That being said, I still thought it was a satisfying one. I usually prefer my horror movies to run just over 90 minutes and this one lasted a little bit too long in my opinion.

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed my watch, I can’t say that this film did something that new and extraordinary because it really borrowed a lot from It Follows. That being said, I still think there’s enough to enjoy with this one, especially if you’re a horror fan.

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures

I’m in!!!

Smile stirs up a feeling of dread and terror that latches on to the audience with full force. It’s a worthy entry to the horror genre with plenty of terror drenched moments to make you second guess that smile from across the way for quite some time…

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on Smile in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

DON’T TAKE THE JOB…

It was only supposed to be temporary…but when Olivia Crewe accepts a new position that seems too good to be true, she soon discovers that twelve other girls previously had the same job as her. Only none of them lasted for more than thirty days. No notice. Nothing…right before they mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

My supernatural thriller Girl Number Thirteen is out now! I hope you enjoy!

Girl Number Thirteen is available here!

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