Smile 2 (2024)

Plot of Smile 2: Within this movie it is explained that a sort of parasitic being inhabits the minds of humans, forcing them in the end to commit suicide in a particularly gruesome manner, the death being witnessed by at least one other who inherits the entity. Joel, from the previous film is attempting to pass on the ‘virus’, but dies in a car accident, and this is witnessed by young drug dealer Lewis who is ‘infected’. He has been the source of drugs used by singer Skye Riley but she is now clean, but after a car accident suffers extreme pain and purchases Vicodin from him. During one visit she sees Lewis acting strangely, and in front of her kills himself by smashing himself in the face with a weight lifting weight. Therefore following the rules, Skye is infected and starts to have hallucinations. She tries to explain to others, including her mother who now acts as her manager, but no-one understands except for one communicator by text. She also phones up her oldest friend Gemma, and reconciles with her and she comes to her apartment. In desperation she meets Morris, the man who seems to have the answers, who suggests a drastic solution. Skye refuses, but after apparently killing her mother she changes her mind. How will it all end?

Content: No sex or nudity, and although cocaine is seen none actually snorted. There are a number of extremely violent and unpleasant deaths, some from the previous film. At times people, including a young girl smile alarmingly at Skye. A flashback of Skye and her boyfriend having a drug fuelled argument while driving, resulting in an accident in which he dies and she is seriously injured. She now has a scar down her front which apparently is due to her being cut open after the accident for doctors to check on her organs. She argues with her mother a lot, even before being infected with the entity. She is also seen rehearsing, with singing and dancing. In the end she is incapable of determining what is hallucination and what is real, nor are we. This is an 18. I suggest that, as with the previous film, parents ensure that young children do not view this film.

A View: This outing was quite well thought of, and made quite a bit of money. I admit that I missed one of the main points of the film because I have very poor facial recognition capabilities, and so I thought that the girl having the car accident was Gemma, Skye’s friend, not Skye herself. The change of hair colour threw me. I could not actually work out was to be achieved at the beginning, before Lewis is infected. But even so the film still held my attention. It is a mixture of supernatural and body horror if that sort of stuff floats your boat give it a go.

Fun Fact: Naomi Scott, as Skye, wrote some of the songs, sang them and choreographed the dancing. So a talented young woman.