FANTASTIC FEST 2022: ‘SMILE’ Is Good Theater Horror

When it comes to horror, like any genre, there is a spectrum of subject matter and execution that everything falls into. While a lot of audiences have been drawn to a so-called “elevated horror” thanks to Ari Aster’s films, there is still a place for theater horror. You know the kind. The ones that don’t necessarily have anything grand to say but still execute enough scares make it a great flick to watch. And that’s SMILE.

A Paramount film, SMILE is written and directed by Parker Finn and marks his first feature film debut. The film stars Sosie Bacon, Kyle Gallner, Caitlin Stasey, Jessie T. Usher, Robin Weigert, and Kal Penn. The film’s premise is simple enough. An emergency room psychologist named Rose meets a patient who is experiencing a psychotic break. Convinced that watching a professor kill himself has brought a haunting presence into her life, the patient quickly descends into self-harm while Rose is left helpless to understand or save the woman.

Initially, Rose believes that she is impacted by the trauma of watching her patient commit suicide in front of her. However, as time goes on, Rose realizes that there is something much more sinister and inescapable going on with the suicides than she thought. An overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape.

While the film boasts an R-Rating, it feels more like a PG-13 studio horror, but with a lot of suicide. Unnerving at points, SMILE relies on jump scares and a sense of dread that comes from questioning reality. While the film is darker and earns its R-rating, so much of it is designed for theater thrills over substance. And you know what? That’s okay.

Most of SMILE does his mediocre territory with every choice in the first two acts of the film coming exactly as you think they would. However, in the last act the film hits a stride that actually ends it on a substantial note. That is due in large part to the creature design and the clear inspiration from films like It Follows. The pacing and slight chaos help create dread in a way we don’t experience throughout much of the film. Add in finally getting to see exactly what is making people smile, and well, I can’t complain.

Overall, SMILE isn’t great, but it is a fun movie to watch in a theater with some quality jump scares. Living in the PG-13 studio horror vein (yes, even with its R-rating) there is certainly a place for the film for horror fans. Sometimes, films can just be popcorn flicks and that’s all that matters.

SMILE screened as a part of the Fantastic Fest 2022 programming and is available now on Prime Video.

Kate Sánchez

Kate Sánchez is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of But Why Tho? A Geek Community. There, she coordinates film, television, anime, and manga coverage. Kate is also a freelance journalist writing features on video games, anime, and film. Her focus as a critic is championing animation and international films and television series for inclusion in awards cycles.