I didn’t think much of the first Smile… called it a movie that borrowed from other better – and worse – movies while seeming like they thought they’d hit on something original. It wasn’t bad necessarily but it was so generic that I was genuinely surprised there was a Smile 2 on the way. But Smile inexplicably made enough cash money I guests I shouldn’t have been.

The sequel stars Naomi Scott as a rising pop star who gets infected by the smile demon who will hopefully someday have a name so I don’t have to call it a smile demon. A lot of the same one-trick pony “is it real… why are you smiling at me like that” gimmicks from the first film return… except <checks notes> it’s a really great film this time.

The first scene is like a thesis statement… look at me, I’ve leveled up my camera tricks. A fantastic one take through a drug den that I have to rewatch to see if the whole thing was one shot or just the final sequence. It’s a great scene and I think only exists to flex muscles. But it’s a good flex.

They then they introduce Naomi Scott who has the advantage of looking like Naomi Scott. She’s in a horror movie that’s 2 hours and 20 minutes long… which actually gives her time to generate a real character… and enough time to properly melt down over the smile demon. Her unhinged performance is terrific and emotionally believable… while bordering on (and possibly tip-toeing over) the edge of camp. The movie has some good intentional chuckles, that’s for sure.

Yeah, arguably the movie is too long but it kind of sailed by for me. There were maybe too many smile demon appearances in the middle. I was rolling with it because there are so many fantastic shots in the flick. Maybe one too much upside down cameras but just as many moving, agile shots to make up for it. Plus a fantastic scene with a an army of smiling goons right out of that <obscure reference alert> Paralyzer music video. It’s kind of pointless since we know the rules of how the demon operates, but it’s such a cool and creepy scene that I just went with it.

Probably the best argument for its runtime is that it gives us enough time to both gorge on the beautiful camera work as well as on many static shots of Naomi Scott face as she acts the hell out of her role.

The film is gory but after getting my eyes melted by the one-two punch of The Substance and Terrifier 3, it sometimes felt like baby’s first gore fest. But they hit on some pretty creepy splat gags, including one that actually advances the lore through a great creature effect.

I’m baffled and bemused by my mental score going up the longer the movie ran. By the time we get a one take argument between two people in a car where the camera whip-pans between them, I realized how remarkably confident and clever the film really was. The rating kept going up… until… yeah check it out. Who knew?

Score: 92