Psychiatrist Dr Rose Cotter, played by Sosie Bacon, experiences the traumatic sight of one of her patients taking their own life. The patient was clearly terrified after seeing something not visible to Rose. But then Rose also begins to experience strange phenomena that only she can see…
We are still over a month away from Halloween but the number of horror movies on release is greater than normal, and Smile has had a particularly large promotional push. I have lost count of the number of times I saw the trailer, which unfortunately gives away far too much of the plot. However, writer/director Parker Finn still has enough twists up their sleeve to keep the story motoring along.
It does become quite tense as Rose’s situation becomes more and more desperate, with the horror as much about Rose’s traumatic state of mind as it is about any lurking monsters. The ending is both unexpected and pleasing. But, there is an over reliance on jump scares at times, and as soon as we see that Rose owns a cat, we know what their fate will be. Hollywood rules: cats are dispensable but dogs are sacrosanct!
Kevin Bacon’s daughter Sosie is a new performer to me, and she is pretty impressive as Rose mental state deteriorates.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10