Smile (2022)

 

Genre: Horror

Time: 2hr

Director: Parker Finn

Quick Summary: After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, a psychiatrist becomes increasingly convinced she is being threatened by an uncanny entity.

I really liked how uneasy this film makes you and full of dread. 

There is an overall theme of trauma that will consume you if you don't face it, which I found really interesting as it shows a few different versions of it and how it could "affect" you. Our main character catches her case of the "spooks"; someone kills themselves in front of her, bringing up a lot of unsolved trauma for her and sending her down a manic spiral. I wouldn't say she is a perfectly developed character, she couldn't end up with any development upwards since she had become frantic to escape her fate, but I will say her actions and reactions to things are justified since she is on such high alert and is desperate to get away. 

I personally didn't like a lot of the other characters, the acting was incredible, but I just felt like everyone else needed to be more developed in a written sense. Especially the main character's fiance; I have never met such an uncaring, snobby, ass of a guy. As soon as our main character started to be spooked by things, he started being distant and angry at her, which really I felt was unnecessary. I would have much preferred if he wasn't even there, as in the end, he isn't really relevant anyway. Our main character played by Sosie Bacon pretty much carried this.

What I honestly really liked was the cinematography in this and how each shot was set up. It's framed so that your eyes naturally want to focus on where the unfocused background is. It draws your attention away from what you might not focus on in your daily life, like the corner of your eye, or down a dark hallway off to the side. But it also cleverly focuses on the people who are smiling, forcing you to look at them in front of a blurry background. There are a few jump scares that are loud and in your face, but the majority of them simply stand there in the dark, visible enough so that it's still very unsettling. This is added to the bright "happy" colours plastered throughout this film and the grimacing, unnerving smiles that are shown throughout this really kick up the deep psychological horror aspect of this.

Without spoiling it, right at the end, I adored the practical effects in this. They were enhanced by CGI, but they were done practically where it could be done. It really makes what you see more sickening. The plot is slow looking back on the film, but you don't actually realise that while watching the film as it knows how to build up the suspense without rushing it, or padding it too much with exposition. We learn some things about this, but mainly it's kept in the unknown. 

Another thing I really enjoyed was the fact that the gore was part of the film and not the point of the film. It becomes tiresome watching horror movies that are just there to show gore and really ramp that up, and as someone who does like those types of films regardless, this was very refreshing to watch.

Very refreshing, clever, and unsettling. I really liked this modern horror, and I fully recommend you watch it. 

9/10