Paramount Pictures
Be warned, this article contains spoilers for “Smile 2”.
“Smile 2” is a reimagining of director Parker Finn’s original film, “Smile”. The first movie ended with the protagonist, Rose (played by Sosie Bacon), falling victim to her curse. The grinning demon that possessed her killed her and then moved on to her ex-boyfriend, Joel (Kyle Gallner). “Smile 2” picks up where the first film left off, introducing us to the new antagonist, pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott).
While the first “Smile” movie focused on a therapist’s mental health deterioration, “Smile 2” changes direction by introducing a new protagonist and exploring the psychological torment associated with fame. Watching Skye’s journey, it’s hard not to draw parallels with real-life celebrities like Britney Spears, who have been exploited and then discarded by the tabloid press and societal pressures.
Skye, a recovering addict who narrowly survived a car accident, is already on edge before the demon makes its appearance. Her mother (Rosemarie DeWitt) has pushed her into a redemption tour, and the constant scrutiny from the camera and her fans is taking its toll.
Skye’s discomfort is evident even off-stage. During a fan signing event, her smile becomes increasingly strained with each fan she interacts with. Even without the demon’s presence, she is terrified by a creepy, long-haired stalker who declares his “love” for her.
“Smile 2” draws heavily from the classic anime “Perfect Blue,” another horror movie centered around a pop star’s unraveling. “Perfect Blue” is arguably the best animated horror film ever made and is a stunning directorial debut. None of director Satoshi Kon’s subsequent films have had the same impact on me.
Just like Skye, the lead character in “Perfect Blue,” Mima, is plagued by a stalker and the disintegration of her reality. Skye’s closest encounter with her stalker is heavily influenced by “Perfect Blue.”
Perfect Blue: The Ultimate Pop Star Horror Film
Madhouse
Roger Corman described “Perfect Blue” as a movie Alfred Hitchcock would make for Disney. The film begins with Mima, a Japanese pop idol in a trio called CHAM! Their hit song, “Angel of Love,” is as catchy as Skye’s “New Brain.”
Mima is more innocent than Skye and is just starting her career. She listens to her managers and bosses out of fear of disappointing them. Despite being comfortable with pop music, she ventures into more mature roles, including acting in a crime thriller TV series and posing nude.
Mima’s biggest fan, “Me-Mania” (Masaaki Ōkura), is not happy with this change and decides to kill her to save the “real” Mima, his idealized Madonna. “Perfect Blue” brilliantly depicts the transformation of fandom from distant admiration to obsessive parasocial relationships due to the internet. When Me-Mania first sees Mima performing on stage with CHAM!, he reaches out to touch her as if she were a figurine on his hand, because that’s how he always sees Mima.
Skye’s stalker is not as persistent, but the demon makes him appear that way. Just like in the first film, the smile monster can distort its victims’ perception, causing them to see elaborate hallucinations. One of Skye’s earliest and most frightening hallucinations happens in her apartment. She notices a trail of discarded clothes leading down her dark bedroom hallway. Then her naked stalker steps into the light, smiling. He rushes at Skye, but when she turns around, he’s gone.
Another major scene in the film occurs in Skye’s apartment, where the smile demon appears as a crowd. The crowd, moving as if they were a multi-limbed creature, grabs Skye and starts to tear her apart. The stalker, unseen but identifiable by the red patches on his skin, reaches his arm down her throat.
Both Perfect Blue and Smile 2 Shatter Reality
Madhouse
In the end, it is Skye who kills her fans. The film concludes with her on stage as the demon takes control, smashing her face with her microphone, killing her and spreading its curse to a stadium full of people. The first “Smile” was a particularly brutal entry in the “it’s actually about trauma” horror canon; its ending inferred that our wounds never fully heal and battling depression or mental illness is a losing fight. “Smile 2” carries that theme through — the demon brags “I’m in control” when Skye tries to vanquish it.
This leads to the film’s final twist, that almost the entire third act was yet another hallucination. “Smile 2” leans on this trick too often and this twist goes too far, keeping the movie from sticking the landing after a mostly steady flight. You’re left wondering what was real, not because you’re unsettled but because you’re confused. “All just a dream” is often the hackiest ending a storyteller can use.
“Perfect Blue” uses some similar tricks. Some scenes are set up to be real, but turn out to be scenes-within-scenes from Mima’s star vehicle, “Double Bind.” About halfway through, the film (repeatedly) jumps from scenes to Mima waking up back in her room. But beneath the reality-twisting, “Perfect Blue” all fits together. Once you know what’s going on, it becomes quite easy to follow on rewatch. While the two films share similar themes and set-pieces, “Smile 2” struggles with both surprising and satisfying its audience in a way Kon’s film never does.
“Smile 2” is currently showing in theaters.
Credit: www.slashfilm.com
