After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can't explain. Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.
- Released:
- Runtime: 115 minutes
- Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thrillers
- Stars: Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner
- Director: Parker Finn
Comments
- haileydahlberg - 20 June 2024
Do not recommend if you struggle with depression
I went out of my way to make an account just to write this review. As a person who struggles very much with depression and mental health issues, I do not recommend this film. I like trauma horror because I feel it sends a message that is more nuanced than you can get from other genres, but this was just bleak without any real meaning.
The basic plot involves a therapist with unresolved trauma experiencing a patient commit suicide in front of her. The event sets off the unsettling happenings, which seemed to be the result of a demonic "curse". I overall enjoyed the initial set up of the plotline, which was definitely telling the story of the demons trauma leaves you with. You are watching the therapist not handle her issues and she quickly spirals out of control. The therapist went to confront the demon causing this curse, which initially seemed successful. She realized what she was doing wrong and how it hurt others in the process, essentially landmarking the beginning of constructive healing. As we very quickly find out, she was still haunted by this evil entity. She killed herself over it in front of her supportive ex boyfriend, and the cycle continues.
I disagree deeply with the choices made at the end of the film, and I feel like there could have been better ways to wrap up the plot, even if the therapist wound up losing no matter what. The film choices left me feeling very triggered and a bit hopeless, even though I am in a decent place in my healing journey. I don't necessarily think this storyline is invalid or unbelievable, but I feel like it was addressed carelessly and with some severe emotional detachment.
If you are looking for a good trauma film to offer relatability and entertainment from a mental health perspective, I definitely do not recommend this film. It's bleak as all hell with no payoff. Not worth it. - salemzin - 20 May 2024
A Cliché Smile
"Smile" (2022) generated a lot of repercussion since its release, becoming one of the most talked about films of the genre in its debut year. Although it was relatively successful at the box office, the film does not meet all the expectations of horror fans.
The script for "Smile" does not present any significant new features, appearing to be a recycling of several ideas from other films such as "The Ring" (2002) and "It Follows" (2014). The film does not bring innovations or new premises to the genre, but it manages to mask the lack of originality with good photography, moments of intense tension and concepts that permeate between the lines of the plot. However, with the arrival of the last act, depending on the viewer's interpretation, these concepts can convey negative messages related to suicide.
Although the film does not bring anything new to cinema screens, it stands out as a complete work. With more courage and improvements to the script, "Smile" could have demonstrated its full potential to the public. - xvipurty - 28 April 2024
cliche but seriously terrifying
It's been a long time for me since a horror movie has made me jump. But this, oh my god one of the first jump scares actually made me scream. Follows a lot of horror movie cliches, but it's hard to make something new when basically everything has been done so I'll give them that. It also isn't bad to follow cliches because they work. The concept of going through something only you can see and everyone around you doesn't believe you is horrifying. The jump scares are extremely unsettling, sometimes predictable but they still got me. I also guessed the ending very soon, but this movie was seriously great and scary. I recommend watching with high volume like I did to get the full effect. I think I'll be having nightmares. - mikeamichelsen - 11 January 2023
Like Chewing Tin Foil
This is one of the most poorly acted, poorly written movies I've ever seen. Every jump scare is a ringing phone or alarm. And at least 72% of the cast CLEARLY attended the Tommy Wiseau school of "acting". I convinced my sweet baboo to watch this... and then she forced me to finish the last... hour and a half.
Have you ever seen a movie so bad it hurt your feelings? I have. It's called Smile. I feel like this artificially inflated, must have 600 character review is more creative anRING RING RING!!! And now more scary than the actual movie itself. Trust me, you'll never get these two hours back... Go watch a good atmospheric horror movie, like The VVitch, or The Babadook, or watch your toaster make six loaves of burnt toast. All are far more entertaining. - lance-85925-56432 - 8 January 2023
Creepy in the best possible way.
First I wanna say I don't watch a ton of horror films so my tolerance to these kinds of movies are low thus making things seem more frightening for me.
The trailer seemed very intriguing so I knew I'd be watching it at some point. Tonight was that night. I was on the edge of my seat with my heart racing throughout the film. I didn't know any of actors and actresses aside from Kumar from Harold & Kumar, but they all did great job especially the lead actress. I try to predict ending of movies but this was a difficult one and I just enjoyed the ride. I would say the concept is great, the ending was on an absurd level, but still effective in creepiness and scare. If you want a good date movie to cuddle and hold your significant other then this will do the job. - rachaelperson - 6 January 2023
Discount "It Follows"
What people have been saying is right, in a sense: this is an above-average mainstream horror movie. The problem is that the average mainstream horror movie is atrociously bad, so yeah, this is better, but it's not great.
To be fair, I don't think this is a "bad" movie; it's just not much better than okay. I can say it's shot pretty well. The music is good at points. Other things, though, can vary. The performances ranged drastically in quality, with some great and some terrible. The lead actress does a serviceable job for the most part, although there are some points where she's not quite convincing. The story itself isn't all that original: if you've seen a transferable curse movie before (The Ring, The Grudge, It Follows), you know exactly how this will play out.
The real shame is that there are flashes of greatness buried in all the mediocrity.
*MILD SPOILER* The monster design was (as far as I can tell) done practically and looked great. There are scenes that have some really interesting ideas. Unfortunately, there are also scenes like the birthday party, which, for me, was unintentionally hilarious.
All in all, yes, this is a watchable movie, but not nearly as good as the hype I've seen around it. - victorhost - 3 January 2023
A confusing soup of rip-offs.
Before anything else, this movie blatantly rips off signature elements from the movies It Follows, Turth or Dare, Mama, Rec, and The Ring; all of which were quite original and good movies - well at least I enjoyed them.
Second of all, this movie has nothing to do with the short film it was absed on. The original short film was way better.
My first problem is the freaking jump-scares. Anyone who thinks what makes a movie scary is jump-scares is... well, not a wise person, let's say. There are too many, too unnecessary, too misplaced jump-scares in the movie. And they aren't even scary. They are just annoying.
The two-dimensional characters and the uncertainty regarding the "villain" (is it a curse? Is it an entity? Or is it all in my head?!) were... "unexciting", to say the least.
I hope this was just a rookie mistake. - GabrielSymes - 1 January 2023
Stupid ending
It starts with an interesting premise, which carries on through to some reasonable jump scares and a nicely curated unease. And there's a nice allegory with the experience of trauma. But the ending, the ending undoes the whole film. So sitting here, thinking back on what we watched, the memory is focused on that ending. And it is bad enough to undermine all the work that was put in with a strong cast, decent production and what could have been a well-rounded horror. It's not worth watching. If you do, you'll get the first 75% of a decent film and then a jolt that reduces all enjoyment to zero, coupled with a lingering aftertaste of incredulity. - biren72 - 30 December 2022
Whoa
If you're the person reading this review that is a novice to shock and awe horror films, this may be a good movie to watch. Just not at nighttime.
Scary, a little weird, zero thinking involved while watching it. For experts in horror, move on. Not anywhere near the expected typical "horror".
Keep watching this movie even half way through if you think it's worth it in the first 10 minutes. If not, move on. I would not want you to waste your time.
There are other movies that contain more depth elements of a true horror film. The director truly tries to make this film amongst those movies. In my personal experience, this film slightly falls short of a true psychological thriller. - sunnysodalite - 29 December 2022
Fallen????
If you've seen Fallen with Denzel Washington, there's really no need to see this. It has almost the exact same plot line, but instead of detectives, she is a therapist. I really enjoyed both films, however. I just wish that there could be original ideas nowadays. HOWEVER, I still really enjoyed this film. I thought that the creature at the end is one of the scariest things I've ever seen and film. I don't know why, but it really disturbed me. I really like how this sheds a light on psychology and psychotherapy. Most media shames it or paints in a bud light, and I feel like this did not. I think the jump scares were done really well in this, as well.
