“Smile 2” is NOT a cash grab

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SALT LAKE CITY – Horror movie or not, it’s pretty hard to ignore a successful film that spent $17 million (excluding marketing) to bring in $216 million in theaters worldwide. 2022’s “Smile” was such a surprise, a certifiable hit, that Paramount planned to send it straight to streaming until it blew away a test audience, and the rest is history.

Well, except now writer/director Parker Finn knew he had hit a home run, but he was smart enough to realize that merely imitating the original was a no-go, and besides, he had some of the finer details of the ” Smile Entity “held back”, enough to give him more ideas to play with.

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With almost double the budget (which can sometimes stifle creativity), Finn developed a new horror experience that not only looks more expensive and expansive, but actually manages to increase the goosebumps compared to the previous work.

To put it more simply, fans of the first film won’t be the least bit disappointed with what he’s cooked up when revisiting the crazy, crazy world of Smile.

This sequel picks up just six days after the end of the first. If you recall, Joel (Kyle Gallner), who is Dr. Rose Cotter played, now discovered that he must pass on the demon curse, and who better to inflict it than two reprehensible drug murderers. The trick is that one of them becomes the host, is mentally tortured, and eventually commits suicide, but does so in the presence of another viewer, who then becomes the new host, and so on. I know. Pretty sick stuff.

However, his plan backfires as he accidentally kills both villains, but luckily (and I use that word loosely) another invisible drug idiot standing in shame against a wall witnesses the whole mess while Joel runs out of the house screaming runs and traffic coming towards him, leaving a bloody skid mark in the shape of a smile – disgusting – and a scene.

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Finally, late at night, idiot drug addict Lewis (Lukas Cage) receives a call from famous singer Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), who is struggling to find painkillers after a serious car accident. And since the creature is tired of messing with Lewis, who better to commit suicide in front of him than a real celebrity? Now the scary nightmare can begin in earnest again.

If it sounds like I’m giving too much away, then I’m not. All of these things are just a warm-up for where Finn wants to take his bizarre fans next.

As you know, I don’t like these sick and twisted storylines, but I have to admit that a lot of extremely creative thought went into putting the whole thing together. So rest assured that this is not a money grab, but one man’s distorted idea of ​​what he believes is frightening to the human spirit. In that sense, he did his job worryingly well.

SMILE 2 (B+) Rated R for strong, bloody violent content, grisly images, language throughout, and drug use. Starring Naomi Scott, Kyle Gallner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Peter Jacobson and Miles Gutierrez-Riley. Written and directed by Parker Finn (“Smile,” “Laura Hasn’t Slept”) – filmed in New York. Running time: 127 minutes.