I generally don’t frequent the theaters around Halloween with scary movies in mind, but as I have been getting back in the swing of things I decided to scratch some things off my list. Even though it takes its basic story beats from existing material and is kinda gimmicky, Smile is still unsettling, enjoyable, and very effective.
A therapist in a psychiatric emergency ward witnesses the graphic suicide death of a young woman that was admitted to the hospital. The disturbing and frightening incident also unlocks some long-buried trauma for the young counselor who must face her past and family history of mental illness. And, yeah, there’s a demonic entity to contend with too.
I framed the summary that way because it is a much more robust narrative than the overly simplistic, gimmicky nature of creepy smiling people from the ad campaigns. I typically don’t bend over backward making an effort to see the kinds of horror films that look to take advantage of October to peddle some subpar product to seasonal moviegoers and by the time I’d been subjected to the trailer for the umpteenth time, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to see it anymore. I was extremely hesitant, but there is something to be said for weekday afternoon matinees.
It took me a moment to get past the setup that an emergency psych ward had no real security or protections for its workers, namely the therapist who is being sent into a room alone with a potentially violent person. After all, they were admitted to this hospital against their will, and in the case of the young woman we first meet in that setting, she is strapped to a gurney, screaming and thrashing the whole way. I understand that the violent episode that ensues was a necessary catalyst for the rest of the film, but it felt rushed.
As a result, during that stretch of the early going, I was having trouble connecting with Sosie Bacon’s character (Rose). Her behavior seemed completely unguarded considering the types of patients she would likely be dealing with in that environment. Not all of them would be violent, but the threat of violence or escalation would be everpresent and her dialogue comes across almost as coddling (borderline patronizing) as if she were talking to a child she was trying to pacify. Of all of the places in her character’s life where she should exhibit an abundance of caution, it should be at work.
Fortunately, the film moves away from that setting because Bacon does a wonderful job beyond the confines of that box. After the incident, she is coming unraveled pretty quickly and that’s because there’s a lot of trauma that she has to unpack, but we don’t quite know that yet as the audience. As a performer, Bacon is manifesting all of that history with her body language, and it’s coupled with the smart script decision to have her repeating, “I’m fine.” She obviously isn’t fine, but her efforts to keep up that appearance are particularly poignant, especially as a mental health practitioner.
That’s one of the reasons this was such an effective debut feature by Parker Finn. On the surface, it is a movie with a supernatural gimmick but underneath it’s much more about the main character’s history and how her trauma is very much part of her present-day life despite being “in the past”. It’s a much deeper examination of trauma than I would have given it credit for prior, and how that deeply-rooted emotional baggage manifests in our lives even when we think we have it under control. That’s what really makes this film scary and it reminds me of some of the work Ari Aster has done examining grief through the scope of horror.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some disturbing visuals and excellent practical effects that mix with some fantastic sound design to deliver a sharp horror experience. However, it’s the push-and-pull of Rose’s internal mental health crisis and how that presents to her friends and family that make this film frightening. She doesn’t quite know if she is going crazy but it looks and sounds that way to everyone else and it’s that unknown that builds the necessary anticipation to make it worthwhile.
From a form and function perspective, this film is very much like The Ring. There’s a MacGuffin, a mystery to solve, and a fairly short timetable in which to solve it. Along the way, the afflicted person tries to unravel the mystery, complete with tracking down and talking to anyone connected, before it’s too late. Instead of a videotape, this curse is passed down to witnesses of acts of violent trauma. That’s where Smile stakes its claim because it’s really an allegory for how familial trauma can be passed along and carried (more than it is just a supernatural horror device). The more I have thought about it since seeing it, the more I appreciate that.
I would have also appreciated more screen time from Kyle Gallner. He plays the detective, Joel, that investigates the first incident but he is also Rose’s ex…convenient. He’s actually the reason why the audience finds out about the extent of the problem at the center of the story, but it felt like he wasn’t involved much beyond leverage to make that happen. He is good in the role, but Gallner has shown he’s capable of more robust character work. That may have been on the table here but there was also another love interest being balanced, which may have had something to do with it.
I like Jessie T. Usher from The Boys and it’s good to see him step outside that box, but he is pretty much a one-note character here. Playing Rose’s fiance, Trevor, he functions as an example of the kind of thing that she stands to lose as her spiral gets progressively worse but doesn’t really ever seem to be invested in her. It was almost like there was one character that got split into two parts and Usher and Gallner each got to play half.
There are a lot of other stand-out supporting roles here including Rob Morgan, Kal Penn, and Gillian Zinser. Even Caitlin Stasey was excellent in her short-lived scene. Now that I think about it, all of the other supporting roles (besides Stasey) function as a microscope for viewing Rose. Whether it be the lone survivor of the curse (Morgan), her boss (Penn), or her sister (Zinser), each one of them is responding to her with a reaction that drives her further down the rabbit hole. Joel is the only one offering her a hand out of it and another reason I think Gallner should have had a bigger role.
Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s original music for this film is super creepy and intense. I have been listening to the soundtrack as I have been writing and it works its way under your skin in a very unnerving manner. There are only a couple of tracks that I remember distinctly from the film but as I am listening to it, it’s a great example of how to use a good original score to keep the audience’s nerves frayed without their direct knowledge.
Charlie Sarroff’s cinematography utilizes a lot of strong lowlight shots but my favorite part was the use of medium shots and close-ups to create an uncomfortable level of intimacy. This is a story that’s very up close and personal for its main character and the camera work makes sure to keep us in those moments. Elliot Greenberg did some really nice work editing this film too. It’s not focused on jump scares but it does have some very effective ones and putting that together with the sound design elements makes it all the more puckering.
I was pleasantly surprised on a number of levels and it has grown on me even more since leaving the theater.
Recommendation: If you like films like The Ring and/or Hereditary, there is more than meets the eye and you should check it out.
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