Smile [4K]
Happiness: that’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a smile. A friendly interaction between people - and something inherently contagious, as often giving a smile will get one in return. So what happens when that same smile is flipped on its head, and made into a horrifying contradiction of itself? That’s what director Parker Finn looks to explore in his debut, Smile. It’s a movie about deep-rooted trauma - which is often generational - and the lengths people need to go to to escape it or overcome it, lest it consumes them.
Dr. Rose Cotter, played by Sosie Bacon, is a psychiatrist that absolutely throws herself into her work - often pulling 80 hour weeks. With a history of trauma that she herself is working through, she dedicates herself to helping others. A new patient comes in suffering from apparent hallucinations - having previously witnessed her college professor bludgeoning himself to death with a hammer. Uncertain as to whether this is the effects of a trauma disorder wreaking havoc on the young patient Laura’s mind, Rose asks for her to discuss just what exactly it is that she is experiencing, when Laura - in a terrified panic explains of how an evil entity has been following her, appearing as other people as if to use their faces as a mask with the “worst smile” she has ever seen.
After screaming that the entity had returned, Laura suddenly grows silent as she carves a broken piece of vase down through the flesh of her cheek and around her throat in a striking facsimile of the disturbing grin also etched upon her face, as a horrified Rose watches, gripped in shock and fear of what she is witnessing. This is more than just straightforward trauma.
Smile has potentially the most anxiety-inducing soundtrack I have heard in a while, with innovative use of haunting tracks and wailing, disturbing sounds that set you on edge. It also has fantastic cinematography with great use of visually interesting angles, with unsettling, rotating aerial shots that symbolise that upturning of a seemingly innocent smile, and reinforcing the horror that comes from the uncanny-valley-like visage, paired with emotionless, dead-stare eyes. I really appreciated Finn’s choice to forgo the use of CGI to enhance the smiles, instead relying on the actors themselves to contort their faces - keeping it fully believable, but teetering right on the edge of absurd to gain maximum creep factor.
The threat that comes from our nameless, malevolent entity is that it feeds on trauma, hopping from one host to the next once it has had its fill. But it doesn’t want just any old trauma, no no, it wants freshly linked trauma to feast upon, forcing its victims to commit suicide in the most grisly of ways in front of singular witnesses, in order to continue the cycle. Our protagonist Rose, being a psychiatrist who is well aware of a variety of trauma responses and different mental health conditions, naturally assumes the belief that what she is now experiencing is as a result of what she has witnessed - compounded by her youth - but as time goes on, her view on things becomes increasingly unreliable, as she too starts to lose her mind to the entity. This adds an extra layer of threat to the mix, as not only is Rose in danger, but anyone she is ever alone with could potentially be the next in line for the curse, whether they believe her or not.
Sosie Bacon gave a phenomenal performance as Rose, spiralling out of control, but desperately trying to find an out. Likewise, other cast members such as Jessie T. Usher, who played Rose’s fiancé Trevor; and Kyle Gallner as Joel, gave stellar performances too. Smile has a story that kept me fully gripped, and desperate for Rose to find some form of solution to the problem. Drawing inspiration from movies such as It Follows, Smile is a fresh and effective tale that slowly builds up to a crescendo of dread and anxiety, and left me absolutely certain of one thing: I can’t wait to see what Parker Finn works on next.
SMILE is available to Download & Keep on December 14 and on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™, and DVD December 26.
In the end, we decided to give Smile the Collecting Asylum rating of 8.5/10.
Are you interested in Smile? What do you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Substance Global for the Smile 4K review disc!
