Smile 2, the recent sequel to the excellent smash-hit horror Smile from 2022, is now finally available to watch at home.
The follow-up is currently streaming via NOW Cinema, Sky Cinema and Paramount+. Created by writer-director Parker Finn, the franchise revolves around people being stalked by a malevolent entity that makes it appear as if everyone around them is smiling unnaturally.
And those who saw the 2022 movie and/or its sequel will know that this is only the beginning of the horrors the evil force has in store for its victims.
Smile 2 depicts how the curse gets passed from police officer Joel (Kyle Gallner) from the first film onto Skye Riley, (Naomi Scott, Charlie’s Angels), a massively famous popstar who already has her own troubles.
Co-starring alongside Scott and Gallner in the follow-up are franchise newcomers Dylan Gelula (Dream Scenario), Lukas Gage (The White Lotus), Ray Nicholson (Novocaine), Raúl Castillo (Army of the Dead) and Rosemarie DeWitt (The Boys).
A hit at the box office and with critics upon release, Smile 2 earned particularly praise for its bravura opening sequence featuring Joel, Scott’s go-for-broke lead performance and the movie’s shocking if darkly comic ending.
Many reviewers even called it superior to the original.
Holding an 86% Rotten Tomatoes score, you can read a sample of some of the glowing write-ups for the horror sequel below:
Bloody Disgusting: “It’s not just the sequel’s razor-sharp and inventive, gory scares that surpass its predecessor, but a profoundly complicated heroine shaping the edgier style of horror.”
Common Sense Media: “A little bit better than its predecessor, this gory horror sequel features surprisingly confident cinematography and sound design, with a vigorous, exhaustive lead performance by Scott.”
Mark Kermode: “It’s got a nicely nasty thing on its tail… it’s very entertaining, Friday night crowd-pleasing, give-you-the-shivers fare.”
New York Times: “[Smile 2] is more thematically ambitious than the original, which also allows Finn to stage more satisfyingly ridiculous kills and ramp up its air of delirium.”
Observer (UK): “The special effects are bracingly revolting, the malevolent smiles as creepy as ever. And the film has the added bonus of some killer choreography, in every sense of the word.”
Smile 2 is available to watch via NOW Cinema, Sky Cinema and Paramount+.
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