A slick, crowd-pleasing horror thriller with an effective central hook, strong sound design, and a few genuinely nasty scares, but it leans heavily on familiar trauma-horror beats and jumps more than it builds. The premise and final stretch land better than the middle, making it more of a good one-time watch than a… Read more
Smile
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Horror · Mystery
Fri · 1h 55m
Director: Parker Finn
Starring: Sosie Bacon, Kyle Gallner, Jessie T. Usher
Overview
After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can't explain.
Director
Parker Finn
Cast
Sosie Bacon, Kyle Gallner, Jessie T. Usher
Curator Review
Verdict
A slick, crowd-pleasing horror thriller with an effective central hook, strong sound design, and a few genuinely nasty scares, but it leans heavily on familiar trauma-horror beats and jumps more than it builds. The premise and final stretch land better than the middle, making it more of a good one-time watch than a standout essential.
Best for
Viewers who like high-concept studio horror
Fans of jump-scare-driven psychological horror
Audiences looking for a polished, easy-to-watch scare movie
People who enjoy trauma-as-monster metaphors
Skip if
You want highly original plotting
You dislike jump scares and loud stingers
You prefer slow-burn dread over repeated shocks
You are tired of horror movies built around grief and trauma
Overview
Smile is built on a strong, instantly legible horror idea: what if a smile became a sign of something deeply wrong? That image does a lot of the work, and the film knows how to weaponize it with sharp sound cues, unsettling faces, and a few memorable set pieces. It’s efficient, accessible, and clearly designed to play big in a theater or on a late-night watch with friends.
Worth noting
The problem is that the movie often feels like it is moving through familiar genre territory rather than discovering new ground. Its emotional framework is obvious early, and the scares sometimes arrive with more volume than invention. Still, the film has enough craft and momentum to keep it moving, and the ending gives it a stronger aftertaste than the middle suggests.
Bottom line
If you like horror that turns an everyday expression into a threat, this works as a glossy, modern entry in the cursed-entity subgenre. If you need deeper character writing or fresher ideas, it may feel like a competent remix of better influences. Either way, it is hard to deny how effectively it gets under your skin in the moment.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Weena (3.5★) · 21189 likes
I would simply close my eyes. Rip to everyone in this movie but I'm different
Haunted Hippie (3★) · 12047 likes
The real trauma was the trauma we traumaed along the trauma
william (3★) · 11514 likes
This is so mid-2000’s style horror that it’s almost camp. No plot, no logic, just jump scares and the most thinly veiled messaging about trauma EVER! And you just know this movie is gonna EAT at 12 year old childrens’ birthday sleepovers across the globe