Gore alert: How Smile 2 doubles down on macabrely malevolent original

Smile 2 finds searingly memorable and distinctly shocking ways to improve upon its macabrely malevolent predecessor, writes Leigh Paatsch.

With a schlock-tastic horror sequel and a WWII drama with some serious Oscar buzz, there’s plenty of quality at the movies this week

SMILE 2 (MA15+)

Naomi Scott in Smile 2.

Director: Parker Finn (Smile)

Starring: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Dylan Gelula

Rating: ★★★½

If you’re happy and you know it … just don’t show it

It does not matter if you are arriving late to the Smile party.

All you really need to bear in mind is that viewing this truly unsettling horror sequel will be no party at all.

For those who did miss the original Smile in 2022, here’s some (haunted) housekeeping you might wish to be across.

That movie chronicled the macabrely malevolent travels of an unnamed curse as it was passed from victim to victim.

The means of transmission? Staring at someone for an inordinate length of time, while slowly breaking into the most grotesque grin imaginable.

While Smile 2 will not evade any accusations of delivering more of the same, it still finds searingly memorable and distinctly shocking ways to improve upon its predecessor.

This time around, the paranormally parasitic spirit has infected one of the most famous people on the planet, the superstar pop singer Skye Riley (played by Naomi Scott).

About to launch a new album and global tour after a self-enforced hiatus due to substance-abuse problems, Skye is initially too distracted by current commitments to recognise the demon taking root within her.

Lukas Gage in Smile 2, which finds searingly memorable and distinctly shocking ways to improve upon its predecessor.

Stuck with an entourage that sees her as nothing but a ticket to the big time – a facile bunch that includes her own selfish mother (Rosemarie DeWitt) – Skye has nowhere to turn once she identifies the infestation she is now hosting.

With the exception of one interested onlooker with an intricate knowledge of how the curse and its week-long expiry date works, everyone puts down Skye’s increasingly erratic behaviour to a return to her former pill-popping ways. If only that were so.

If Smile 2 exerts a tighter grip on the viewer than before, it is undoubtedly due to a more aggressive approach on this occasion from writer-director Parker Finn.

The rookie filmmaker doubles down on both what quickly jolts and slowly revolts, merrily leading his audience into a maze from which there very possibly could be no way out.

Those without the stomach for a level of big-screen gore that would make most professional butchers look the other way should be aware the red stuff flows and sprays in unrelenting fashion in later scenes.

Those tough enough to hold their gaze for an extended period will acknowledge two things immediately.

Firstly, the astonishing FX work poured into a scene featuring a physical manifestation of the curse results in one of the most unforgettable screen images of 2024.

Secondly, Naomi Scott, whose brave performance is often captured in intimidating extreme close-ups, is going to be a big name to watch in coming years.

Smile 2 is in cinemas now

LEE (M)

Kate Winslet in Lee.

Rating: ★★★

General release

According to the late Lee Miller, the years during which she made her name could be summarised as follows: “All I was good at was sex, drinking, and taking pictures.” It’s for that last trait that Miller is largely remembered today, with one audacious shot in particular (a selfie taken in Hitler’s bathtub as the Allied forces entered Munich at the end of World War II) sealing the photographer’s maverick reputation.

This cinematic portrait of Miller in her prime would be considered interesting yet unremarkable, if not for the perfect casting of Kate Winslet as the adventurous wartime photojournalist. Drawing on the same spiky presence that defined her work in the series Mare of Easttown, Winslet captures the earthy charisma and self-destructive tendencies of her character with decisive ease.

Kate Winslet and Andy Samberg.

While the movie is definitely a touch too slow to find its right storytelling groove, Winslet’s domination of every scene keeps the production heading in the right direction.

Co-stars Alexander Skarsgard, Andy Samberg, Marion Cotillard.

FROM HILDE, WITH LOVE (M)

Johannes Hegemann and Liv Lisa Fries in From Hilde, With Love.

Rating: ★★★

Selected cinemas

The movies rarely acknowledge the fact there were active (albeit largely unsuccessful) local resistance movements within Germany throughout the reign of the Nazi regime. This quietly illuminating biopic focuses on the modest heroism of Hilde Coppi, a member of the revered Red Orchestra militia who was executed for subversion in 1943.

Hilde (played by Babylon Berlin star Liv Lisa Fries) gave birth to a child while in prison awaiting her sentence, and it is from this bleak vantage point we are continually flashed back to the events that ended in sorrow for Hilde and many of her comrades.

The studied pacing of the production and the muted performances of the lead actors may not suit the tastes of all viewers, particularly those who prefer such tales of doomed nobility to deliver rushes of risk and excitement. However, there can be no denying this is a valid and vividly atmospheric work with both its head and heart in the right place.