Smile 2

 

       The first film had a original take on an evil entity possessing people. It became a hit and now we have the sequel. Writer and director Parker Finn keeps things fresh with a new cast and a new setting but that pesky entity is still keeping victims smiling and dying.

       Naomi Scott stars as Skye Riley and she is simply terrific. She is in almost every scene playing a pop star who has inadvertently inherited the evil spirit from the first film. She does her own singing and dancing in certain scenes and in others registers paranoia, fear, and absolute terror as the spirit slowly consumes her. It is a star making performance. Co-starring with Ms. Scott are Rosemary DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley and Peter Jacobson. 

      Mr. Finn expertly turns up the suspense and scares as the story builds. He is a master of the "jump scare" and the film contains many of them. It's a standard horror technique but he still manages to make it surprising and keeps the audience constantly off balance.

       Everything about this sequel is ramped up from the original. It starts days after the first film ended, takes off like a shot and works brilliantly. Looking forward to the inevitable "Smile 3".