Mark Kermode reviews Smile 2 - Kermode and Mayo's Take

Naomi Scott is amazing in this movie, but the movie it self (as the first one was) is just a ripoff of "It Follows". And what was with the VOSS water in every scene?

I’ve just seen Smile 2. I liked it but for me it was too long and a bit overcooked. It lasts for 2 hours and 10 minutes but should have been about 100 minutes.

Naomi Scott is terrific as a woman going mad.

Smile 3 needs to take the idea in a different direction.

The 2019 Oscar Best Actress Nominees:

Glenn Close: The Wife
Lady Gaga: A Star is Born
Melissa MaCarthy: Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Olivia Colman: The Favourite
Yalitza Aparicio: Roma

Does anyone remember any of those movies? Where was Toni Collette for Hereditary? Not even nominated. The greatest horror performance in history. Male or Female. Yes, even better than Linda Blair or Ellen Burstyn in The Exorcist. I love that movie as well, so I am not knocking it down. I am agreeing with Mark. Horror is dismissed by Oscar voters. Shame.

2 out of 10 from me.
Too long, too loud, too cringe, too many jumpscares and not truly scary. This could've been an A24 horror film. It’s filled with body horror, evil that makes the main character see things, and they are slowly going crazy. I am so tired of films like this, Late Night with the Devil, and Talk to Me.

Good that you are commending a central performance in a horror movie - Naomi Scott. Would also add to that the performance of David Dastmalchian in Late Night with the Devil. Another excellent performance. I, also, am a fan of horror movies and The Exorcist was a really scary movie for me, being Catholic.

Ive seen hundreds of horror movies but im too scared to watch this! Its the smiling scenes. It really terrifies me.

Not any mention of mental health once, surprising!

I totally agree, I feel like Naomi Scott should be nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars this year she is so good in this movie. One of the best performances of the year.

Good. Not great, but good. A decent warm up act for Terrifer 3 which I saw immediately afterwards.

Can’t we just get Possession rereleased in theaters or something? I was hoping this would never be considered for a remake.

Quiet Quiet Bang! - Good band name.

Is there a reason Mark has not reviewed Terrifier 3 ?

I was completely surprised by how much I liked this movie. I didn't think it was very scary, but it was well done. There was thought behind this and it was executed well. And Naomi Scott came out of nowhere and gave one of the best performances of the year imo.

Liked the film, a bit too long as often the case and disappointing ending with a monster, in my opinion!

I thought it would have been a great movie without the jump scare violin sound. The scares would be better without the string quartet. In the end it just annoyed me and was very predictable. Great performance from the lead though.

First film bored me a little but was good. Smile 2 I thought was really good.

Mayo's gone through some significant changes.

I was absolutely blown away by the original Smile and I,m kinda hard to impress.
I went to see Smile 2 on Saturday. I was expecting a fairly good sequel as the original is as said a great film.
Boy oh boy am I impressed.
Smile 2 really pushes the boundaries.
Possibly only the Terrifier films and theEvil Dead films old and new pack in as much gore.
Peter Jacksons Braindead sets the benchmark for grossout humour with bucket loads of gore and fun but Smile and Smile 2 take it very seriously.
Not just made for shock value but real quality in plot, production, tension and grit.
Personally the best horror to be released in cinemas in a long time.
It even eclipses Evil Dead Rise and that film is absolutely stunning.

Mark's decade's long dedication to advocating for horror as a valid genre is wonderful. He's a great advocate for the genre and I'm so thankful he's one of the bastions of horror.

Can you enjoy this without seeing the first one?

They keep saying she I got the end of it and I still have no clue what the actress is called

It’s a stronger concept than the first yet IT FOLLOWS is far superior. IT FOLLOWS has a small budget yet is far more engaging and frightening

It's great to hear such a glowing review. I only got round to seeing the original this weekend. I love watching horror films and I'm always hoping to be scared. It very, very rarely happens. I'll jump at the jump scares but that's it. Watching Smile this weekend I was saying, "No, no, no, no." at the screen, out loud and all alone toward the end. It was superb and I knew there was going to be a sequel but not that it was already out. That's next week's cinema sorted out!

first one = genuinely horrible / second one = kinda fun and silly

I can't wait to see this!!! I love the first one!

What are you smilin' at?

Fallen.
The end.

I’m not a huge fan of the first movie, but I saw this yesterday and I really enjoyed it, I think Naomi Scott was fantastic! I was gripped from beginning to end!!

I like Ben a lot, he bounces well off Mark

Overlong snooze fest. None of the jump scares fazed me. The hysterics and water brand placements got to be too much.

I've just seen Smile 2 and I must say it was one of the best horrors I've seen in a long time. Naomi Scott's performance was outstanding. Would love to see her nominated for an award.

Great movie.

I never saw the original, had very low expectations going into this film, i didnt find the smile thing that interesting, but man the film blew me away, Naomi Scott is a tour-de-force here and some of the direction/visuals were really creative and horrifying in a new way. Reminded me of Talk To Me in the best of ways. Hope Naomi gets more big roles like this

Really liked this movie but Possession? I don’t know how they could remake that without making it into another dull b-movie exorcist/demon-possession film, the original was carried by Isabella Adjani and Sam Neill’s insane performances and the shit they were put through like the shining sort of. The Berlin setting and the weird practical effects too. Doing it in some bland modern setting wouldn’t work, maybe if they had Mia Goth or some insane actress like that it might be possible

I don’t watch horror - too scary. Like the Gang of Four album cover on Mark’s wall, and is that one of Mark Nopfler’s guitars?

She should have run off stage imo

Original was very very good

This was the most disappointing film of the year. Just awful. Cast are great but every thing else from plot to script to pacing to cinematography. Original had depth and slightly ruined itself in last 2 mins. This was like watching that last 2 mins for 2 hours. Just awful

Nah, the great performances aside I didn't like it anywhere near as much as the original. This didn't have the gradual but relentless build up of anxiety & tension like the first one did. Jump scares are all well and good but to work properly the audience has to be racked up a bit. 5/10. I'd give the first one 8/10 losing a couple because the curse idea is well worn.

Watched with my daughter in Prague (it's only a 15 there). I enjoyed a lot buuuut frankly it's a bit teenybopper for me. Great entry level horror for the Stranger Things generation but I I didn't find it a grown up horror. Also a few moments of comedy I'm not sure were meant to be funny. My daughter was terrified though so I'd recommend

I'm surprised he liked this movie. The acting and script were awful

I agree she needs some recognition for her performance. It's a rollercoaster of emotions and physical performances, she is full throttle and absolutely fantastic.

I agree with your comments Mark especially Naomi Scott

The first film was decent. This is absolute rubbish, boring, predicable, and way too long. Naomi Scott was great but another film in which you've seen it all before. 😫

i thought it was like an extended episode of AHS or Black Mirror. Just like Mark I despair at modern horror

I watched this last night and the one thing I wasn't prepared for, considering this review, was just how bloody horrible this movie was. I was totally unprepared. Talk about escalation! Every time I thought it had reached a climax and that was it another scene unfolded that was worse. A great movie? Yes! But I needed more warning lol.

Absolutely detested the first one. I was really pleasantly surprised by this.

Unfinished movie. I wanted to see how a certain characters theory would play out. then it ended before they got to try it.

Better made than the first and with some excellent sequences...but suffers the same problem as the first.
There are no stakes.
Two thirds in, you realise than nothing you see can even trusted. Everything is a setup for a rug pull. When every sequence is an escalation of “its a hallucination” then nothing matters. You’re just marking time until the inevitable. So by the time the monster is revealed and the outcome is shown, I was bored, because I’d worked it all out twenty minutes prior. None of the stuff in between mattered at all because it was all a fake out. Her battle, her attempt to fight back....was made irrelevant because the film already showed us that just about everything she was experiencing was just the Smile Entity messing with her. There was no point where I felt “she could actually beat this thing” because everything had been a rug pull....and with each new rug pull came diminished returns.

If they do a third film, they need to really mix things up and give more scope to what’s happening.

Her portrayal of someone that has already dealt with serious past mental issues that is now entering complete madness is incredible. She really deserves an award. I didn't know what to expect with this film and certainly wasn't expecting it to be better than the first one but it is an elevation to some extent. Amazing all round!