In Smile 2, the curse is transferred to a pop star named Skye Riley, who is haunted after witnessing her drug dealer’s brutal suicide.
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When Smile debuted in 2022 and it was an unexpected box office success earning $217 million globally on a modest $17 million budget. The film was originally intended for streaming and it was launched in theaters after positive test screenings.
While the curse remains as effective in delivering unsettling and gory moments as it was in the original, it doesn’t add much new to the Smile franchise.
The repetition of the same formula grins, hallucinations and eventual self-destruction feels all too familiar.
In Smile 2, the focus shifts from the original film’s psychiatrist protagonist to Skye Riley, a pop star on the verge of a comeback after a public meltdown triggered by a car accident. This new angle introduces fame, addiction and public scrutiny.
However, while the change from a medical professional to a pop star adds a layer of celebrity anxiety, the core tof Smile 2 remains consistent with previous installment.
In the first film, the curse was linked to inherited trauma and mental illness and here, it is tied to the pressures of fame and addiction.
Unfortunately, the film doesn’t take this angle enough to fully distinguish itself from other curse horror films or from the original Smile.
Skye Riley’s character in Smile 2 embodies the pressures of stardom, addiction and grief. The film portrays Skye as a fallen pop star trying to regain her footing after an accident and substance abuse issues.
As Skye goes on her comeback tour, she’s simultaneously trying to maintain a polished public image while being mentally and emotionally overwhelmed by the horrors of the curse.
The Smile franchise attempts to mix supernatural horror with meaningful subtext about mental health, trauma and, in Smile 2, the toll of fame.
Smile 2 continues the franchise’s tradition of unnerving visual hallucinations with Skye experiencing disturbing visions as the curse tightens its grip.
The visions include grotesque and unsettling moments such as a bone sticking out of her leg and the appearance of her dead boyfriend. These scenes are meant to shock and horrify.
However, the expansion of the curse’s powers in Smile 2 borders on excess, with Finn relying heavily on rug-pulling moments and dream-like sequences.
As a result, the narrative occasionally feels like an extended nightmare sequence. The film’s 127-minute runtime adds to this sense of fatigue, with the length making the familiar narrative beats feel even more drawn out.
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The sequel ramps up the violence, delivering grotesque kills that are both shocking and at times, nauseating.
From the moment Skye witnesses her drug dealer’s brutal suicide, the film plunges headfirst into a gory spectacle that mirrors the intensity of other modern horror franchises like Saw and Terrifier.
The film’s fixation on gruesome deaths can detract from its attempts to explore more meaningful themes reducing complex ideas like trauma and addiction to set dressing for shock horror.
An element of Smile 2 is Naomi Scott’s portrayal of Skye Riley. The Smile 2 review praises her for bringing a raw intensity to the role especially as Skye’s mental state deteriorates under the pressure of the curse.
Smile 2 was produced on a $28M budget, Smile 2 opened to $23M, following a $9.4M Friday. The film received a B CinemaScore, which is an improvement over its predecessor’s B-.
The audience consisted of 31% men over 25, 24% men under 25 and a combined 22% women under 25 and 24% women over 25.
Caucasians represented 35%, while Black and Asian audiences came in at 15% and 11%, respectively. With a social media reach of 154.4M followers across platforms like TikTok and Instagram, Smile 2 generated a repost rate of 11:1 on its trailers.
The movie was a hit across the board in all regions East, South, West and South Central with top-grossing sites like AMC Empire NY bringing in $28K on Friday alone. 67% of Smile 2’s audience bought their tickets on the same day.
We Live In Time saw a major expansion this weekend bringing in $4.3M across 985 theaters. This expansion followed a $1.8M Friday. The movie is now at a running total of $4.6M in its second week. With an audience score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Anora, which won the Cannes Palme D’Or has massive theater average of $105K across just six locations, making it the second-best post-COVID theater average after Asteroid City. Key sites in NYC and LA saw high ticket sales.
The Wild Robot continued its strong performance with a $10.7M weekend, only dropping 24% from the previous week. The film’s total domestic box office is now at $102.3M after four weekends.
With a second-weekend drop of 48%, Terrifier 3 still brought in $9.8M, giving it a total of $36.7M after just two weeks.
In its seventh weekend, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice grossed $5M bringing its total to $284M. The film is now available for digital rental and purchase.
Joker: Folie à Deux saw a sharp 70% decline in its third weekend earning just $2.2M. The film’s domestic total stands at $56.4M.
Hocus Pocus (1993) re-release grossed $940K this weekend, pushing its lifetime gross to $50.2M. The Nightmare Before Christmas also saw re-release success with $1.3M bringing its total to $92.6M.
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