Smile (2022)    Paramount/Horror    RT: 115 minutes    Rated R (strong violent content and grisly images, language)    Director: Parker Finn    Screenplay: Parker Finn    Music: Cristobal Tapia de Veer    Cinematography: Charlie Sarroff    Release date: September 30, 2022 (US)    Cast: Sosie Bacon, Kyle Gallner, Jessie T. Usher, Robin Weigert, Kal Penn, Gillian Zinser, Caitlin Stasey, Rob Morgan, Judy Reyes, Nick Arapoglou, Matthew Lamb.    Box Office: $105.9M (US)/$217.4M (World)

Rating: ***

  Okay, so the new horror movie Smile might not be wholly original. It borrows ideas from The Ring and It Follows with its terrifying tale of a young woman haunted by a malevolent entity of some sort. It was passed on to her by another person who died horribly mere days after inheriting it from its previous host who also died under horrific circumstances. The commonality among the victims is that they all experienced some kind of trauma in the past. Apparently, this particular entity feeds on the pain that comes with long-term trauma. It’s a neat idea, but it’s hardly new territory. It’s a good thing then that a seemingly capable filmmaker is at the helm.

 His name is Parker Finn and Smile is his first feature film. It’s based on his own short film Laura Hasn’t Slept, the winner of the Special Jury Recognition Prize at 2020’s South by Southwest film festival. Overall, it’s a pretty good debut. It has a few kinks, but writer-director Finn manages to deliver the goods by not following in the footsteps of far too many lame studio horror pictures. It’s NOT PG-13 and doesn’t center on a group of vapid millennial teens. The characters are actual adults with careers and families. [Insert collective gasp here.] I know, I’m as shocked as you are.

 You could say that Smile begins in media res. By the time the protagonist first encounters the evil entity, it’s been around for some time evidently. Dr. Rose Cotter (Bacon, 13 Reasons Why), on staff at a New Jersey psychiatric hospital, is asked to evaluate a new patient, a young woman who appears to be delusional. Grad student Laura (Stasey, Reign) explains to Rose that something pretending to be people is out to get her. It’s been following her ever since she witnessed the suicide of a professor four days earlier. Also, it’s smiling at her. It’s an evil, scary smile. Just like the one that appears on Laura’s face right before she cuts her own throat in front of Rose.

 Clearly upset by what she saw, Rose starts to mentally deteriorate herself. She becomes convinced that whatever was plaguing Laura is now after her. But here’s the rub. It could also be that her patient’s violent death brought back memories of a past childhood trauma, her own mother’s suicide. That’s what her fiancee (Usher, The Boys) and older sister (Zinser, 90210) think when she tells them what’s happening with her. The only one that (eventually) believes Rose is her ex Joel (Gallner, Scream 5), one of the detectives investigating Laura’s death. He helps her look into the matter in an effort to stop what’s going on before it claims another victim, namely her.

 I’ll grant that Smile isn’t perfect. It’s a little on the long side. It drags in parts, but it’s never actually boring. Also, it’s vague about its monster. What is this entity? Is it a demon? An evil spirit? What? And what is its origin? I have a feeling all of this will be explained in future installments should they happen (The First Smile, I like the sound of that). These are issues, but not deadly ones. Smile is still a good movie thanks to a solid lead performance from Bacon, a brooding atmosphere and a few effective “BOO!” scenes. He’s still learning, but Finn has the makings of a great niche filmmaker. Who knows? We could be looking at the next Romero or Carpenter here.

 Bacon, the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, looks convincingly distressed as the cursed heroine, a vulnerable woman coming apart at the seams. She tries to keep it together, but it gets harder and harder with each incident. It shows in her pallid complexion, disheveled appearance and every pained smile. Usher is also good as the boyfriend who cares only about how his fiancee’s mental state affects his life of ease and comfort. Robin Weigert (Take Me to the River) makes the most of limited screen time as Rose’s therapist, yet another person who attributes her current problems to her mother’s death.

 I love the look of the movie. It has this cool dark pallor that permeates every scene. It’s a perfect match for the unrelentingly grim tone set by Finn in conjunction with cinematographer Charlie Sarroff. He throws in some crazy camera angles that serve to disorient viewers in a good way. The score by Cristobal Tapia de Veer augments all of it.

 So I told you what Smile is about in terms of plot. However, there are those who always want to know what a movie is “really about”. I can answer that. Before I do, let me just say for the record that Smile is NOT one of those elevated horror films, not really. It works just fine as a damn good scary movie. That being said, here’s what it’s “really about”. It’s about the insidious nature of trauma and how it lurks in the darkest recesses of the mind just waiting to come back with a fatal vengeance. The entity can be seen as a physical manifestation of trauma. That’s my take away anyway.

 Smile has some good makeup effects and a few nifty kill scenes. It’s creepy as hell at times. It’s also legitimately scary. I actually jumped one or two times. In short, it’s a good horror flick. I think the fans will be pleased. Finn does so much right, it’s easy to look past the few things he does wrong.