Smile
Directed by Parker FinnAfter witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, a psychiatrist becomes increasingly convinced she is being threatened by an uncanny entity.
Smile Ratings & Reviews
- Daniel Schmid1d agoThe acting was good but the story was just not interesting at all. When you already see the next "this isn't what's really happening" coming, there's just not much left to enjoy. The ending is anything but satisfying, it's just not even an actual ending other than the movie suddenly being over. No closure, no resolution, not even an interesting open end. This is gonna be a hard skip from me.
- Allie TranMarch 3, 2025No one smile at me ever again thanks
- brycowardOctober 29, 2024A little bit "The Ring" and a little bit "It Follows". A fantastic exploration of grief, of not addressing pain, and the consuming nature of trauma. The character, particularly the protagonist and her partner, and story-telling with respect to the post curse behavior are wanting. The main character, a therapist, fails to couch any of her behavior in a way to explain it to her collogues; she fails to attempt to explain it with anything which would be explainable to others. She fails to ask to be restrained. She fails to reason that the prior victim committed a violent suicide in front of others, and therefore she needed to prevent that outcome. Similarly, her partner immediately becomes an unhelpful jerk, suspicious of his extremely reasonable, professional mental health expert partner. Those behaviors could very easily have been changed to be more in character, and the story would largely have been fine.
- AngusMcNutzOctober 29, 2024An interesting premise that only gets halfway down the field. Also, what if the demon was just really cold?
- HiaciosNovember 5, 2025I'm just not into the supernatural horror films that take away free will. It's lazy writing IMO.
- Nate SNovember 1, 2025Interesting psychological horror with a similar premise of It Follows. Would recommend.
- MagicCooki3October 18, 2025Made me feel insane at times, no jumpscares, completely psychological - 8.7/10
- ghost0neMay 17, 2025It’s basically The Ring, but for people who flinch during eye contact
- ርልዪረOctober 17, 2025Okay so, this movie genuinely scared me. Below I'm going to list some pros and cons and then give my take. Pros: - Concept was great - The Jumpscares weren't cheap - The movie is good at ensuing dread Cons: - There were a bit "too many" jumpscares - There were some points that take you out of the groove - Some of the characters act just straight up dumb Now I've rated this movie five stars and have gone to see it TWICE in theatres because I liked it that much, I have not felt as much dread and genuine fear in a horror movie since insidious chapter 1 which I would argue this movie is scarier than. The Concept of a horrifying energy that stalks it's victims is no new concept, but the way it was applied in this movie they did an outstanding job of! Now before I continue I just want to say I am no professional critic but the movie genuinely had my on the edge of my seat, at one point it even managed to make me jump which hasn't happened in a very long time. With most modern horror being nothing more than cheap story with an even cheaper tag. This movie did something different, Now with all the positive out of the way lets move into the negative; firstly I love the build up but some of the jumpscares felt a bit out of place, I wont provide any examples as to not spoil the movie but it almost felt like there could've been more psychological horror elements considering the main character is a therapist. At some points where the CGI game into effect rather than adding on to the horror element it instead just sort of took me out of the whole horror feeling. An example of this would be the end, again not specifying as to not spoil but CGI could have been improved a bit. I feel like at some points in the movie the characters acted in ways that just seemed a little "stupid", in my opinion if I was dealing with some sort of malevolent entity I would immediately contact a church which the MC didn't do. I understand she may not have been a believer but even an atheist says "Oh my god" and in this situation whatever the hell I believed I'd be running to find a priest. Overall this movie in my eyes will recieve five stars, cause no movie isn't without it's flaws but this one earned this rating. Awesome plot, good scares, considering going to watch it in theatres one more time.
- hlzn4October 18, 2024Whack
- jackmeatSeptember 4, 2025My quick rating - 6.6/10. Damn, that creepy ass smile. If there’s one thing Parker Finn’s Smile accomplishes, it’s making grins feel about as welcoming as a rusty bear trap. The movie kicks off with psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) witnessing a patient’s traumatic suicide, and from there, her life nosedives into a cycle of paranoia, hallucinations, and that dreadful grin that follows her like an unwanted subscription you forgot to cancel. What really works here is how relentless the entity is in tormenting Rose. It’s not just the jump scares—it’s the psychological warfare. That birthday party scene? Oh yeah, that one will stick with you. If I were in her shoes, I don’t think my first instinct would be to keep insisting, “I’m fine.” This isn’t the “walk it off” kind of situation. This is more the “call a priest, a therapist, and maybe buy a flamethrower” variety of problem. Beneath the horror, Parker Finn uses the story as a metaphor for trauma, showing how it infects every aspect of someone’s life and can easily be passed on. The idea isn’t subtle, but it’s effective, and Bacon carries it beautifully. She nails the role of someone unraveling in slow motion, making you believe every crack in her composure. For a mid-budget flick, the technical side is surprisingly sharp. Charlie Sarroff’s cinematography is slick and unsettling, with camera angles that feel like the floor itself is judging you. The sound design is also spot-on with unnerving tones and just enough distortion to make you wish you’d watched it with the lights on. Now, gore hounds shouldn’t expect a buffet, but what’s there works. The kills look solid, but this is a movie where the psychological scares and those brutally timed jump scares do the heavy lifting. And credit where it’s due, the jump scares aren’t the cheap kind that make you hate yourself for falling for them. These are the “dammit, they got me” type that earn their keep. If there’s a knock against Smile, it’s the ending, which feels a little anticlimactic compared to the rollercoaster leading up to it. It doesn’t ruin the experience, but it does leave you wishing the finale had grinned a little wider. Still, between Finn’s confident debut, Sosie Bacon’s gripping performance, and a few scares that will haunt your dreams, Smile gets under your skin in all the right ways.
- Mr. DMay 15, 2025It was good but felt dragged out. Part 2 was better.
- leeartleeAugust 31, 2025I am a huge horror movie fan. I’ve pretty much seen them all. But within the last 10-20 years, I think Smile is one of my favorite horror movies I can recall seeing. It’s got all the great hallmarks of a good scary movie: spooky, unsettling, frightening at times, with some very scary imagery. The only thing that some horror fans might not like is that it’s “technically” got a low body count. If you’re hoping for a lot of dead folks, this isn’t the movie. That’s not to say people don’t die. There is plenty of death. The only reason I held off with half a star is because I think the sequel, Smile 2, is even better. That movie is not only one of my favorite horror movies, I just think it’s an amazing movie full stop. Anyways, if you like horror movies you MUST watch the Smile series. They are to die for.
- FranBizJuly 22, 2025This is basically The Ring meets It Follows. I think a lot of people compare this movie to those films. This is another "pass the curse" movie, and I think the movie is ok. I did enjoy the research the main character did about the "Smile curse" (very similar to The Ring)
- Kevin WardJuly 6, 2025My kids were traumatized by the trailers for this movie several times and my wife can’t handle horror. She had full fledged breakdown in the parking lot after I took her to see IT Chapter 1. That’s the last horror movie I watched with my wife. So for my b-day after celebrating, they released me to the theater to watch Smile on my own. It was a treat. Smile has a few of the best scares I’ve seen in a horror film from the last couple years. It’s really well shot incorporating some artful camera angles, rotations and inversions. Sosie Bacon gives a terrific and emotional performance as clinical psychologist Rose Cotter that witnesses a patient commit a horrific suicide before her very eyes. I won’t go much more into the plot other than to say he focuses very much on how trauma and/or PTSD can be passed on to one another, particularly when it goes unresolved. It’s a really interesting idea that incorporates a classic horror trope from films like The Ring and It Follows. I did feel like it dragged ever so slightly in the middle. There’s a stretch where there’s no significant scares and the narrative becomes a little repetitive. But when Rose starts towards the endgame it took some wildly unexpected turns. (Not like Barbarian level WTF, but still really fun). Really impressive debut film from Parker Finn
