Smile, directed by Parker Finn and released by Paramount Pictures on September 30th, 2022, is a psychological horror movie with supernatural undertones. The movie revolves around Dr. Rose Cotter, who witnesses her patient’s suicide in front of her eyes, leading her to experience horrifying visions that disrupt her daily life. She is given leave by her superiors and is considered insane by her fiance, as well as her brother. However, one thing that Rose has to do is to unravel the source of this curse.
The movie begins with Dr. Rose Cotter looking tired after attending a session with her patient. Her superior asks her to go home because she has been working long shifts. However, instead of going home, she receives another call to handle a new patient who has just entered the hospital. At first, she manages to deal calmly with her new patient, Laura. She listens carefully and tries to direct Laura’s attention towards post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after she witnessed her professor committing suicide in front of her eyes. However, Laura always describes her being haunted by a frightening entity, and suddenly, Laura hysterically becomes surprised. Rose immediately contacts hospital security to secure Laura, but to her shock, Laura used the shards of a vase to cut her own cheek and throat. Rose can only stare at Laura in disbelief.
Two detectives, including Joel, later questioned Rose to investigate the suicide case further. Rose only gave her analysis from a psychological perspective. Rose then returns home and is surprised to find her fiance, Trevor, coming back from work. She feels like she sees Laura’s shadow in the kitchen, and they end up having dinner together with Holly, Rose’s sister. However, they end up fighting at the dinner table. The next day, Rose reads Laura’s data to find out about her mental condition.
Feeling restless, Rose meets a senior psychiatrist, Dr. Northcott, to get a prescription for medication. However, the psychiatrist refuses and only wants to have a counseling session. He thinks that Rose’s past trauma has been triggered again after experiencing the terrifying incident. In the hospital, Rose felt attacked by her patient, which led to her patient being moved to another room. Her superior then reprimanded her and asked her to take leave to rest. Rose then buys a toy car as a birthday present for her nephew.
At night, Rose felt that someone broke into her house when the alarm went off. She saw a mysterious figure attack her and ran to the back of the house. The police came to investigate but didn’t find anything. Rose went to her nephew’s birthday party, and she became hysterical when her nephew opened her gift, which contained the carcass of her cat. She was taken to the hospital to treat her wounds caused by falling onto the table when she was shocked by seeing the terrifying entity in the middle of the party. Trevor started to feel uncomfortable with Rose’s condition and refused to talk about it.
Rose visited Laura’s deceased professor’s house and found a smile painting, which she had seen a lot lately. However, when she tried to find out more, she was kicked out by the professor’s wife. Rose then asked for Joel’s help to investigate Laura’s and her professor’s backgrounds. They continued to comb through each suicide victim’s data from the police database. Rose talked to Robert, who was supposed to be one of the cursed victims, but he survived. Robert killed someone who was witnessed by another person who later committed suicide. And Robert survived the curse.
Rose chose to be alone so that there would be no more victims. She decided to break the curse chain by confronting the demon entity itself. In her old house, she talked to a spirit that resembled her mother. However, soon enough, the figure turned into a demon that began to hunt her down.
Did Rose successfully end the curse, or did she fail and the curse continued? Continue to watch this thrilling movie until the end to find out.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, Smile is a modern horror movie that demands the audience to think deeper to understand the movie’s storyline. Throughout the movie, viewers will encounter subtle hints that lead them to believe that the characters, including the protagonist, Rose, may or may not be imagining the supernatural events that were occurring around them. Directed by Parker Finn and starring Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, and Kyle Gallner, the movie offers a unique blend of psychological suspense and supernatural terror. The movie’s plot and cinematography will keep the audience on the edge of their seats. If you’re a horror movie enthusiast, Smile is a must-watch movie.
