‘Smile’ Is A Scarier Version Of ‘The Ring’
When I watched Parker Finn’s Smile, I came away with a couple of thoughts. First and foremost, I found the film to be properly terrifying. But I couldn’t help but notice that the flick takes a certain amount of inspiration from Ringu/The Ring.
At its core, the lore behind Smile is quite similar to The Ring. Both films follow a protagonist exposed to a supernatural entity that they eventually learn will kill them within a week. From there, both features find their protagonist frantically trying to piece together the details behind the curse with which they have come into contact and break the cycle before they become the next victim. While most of the finer details are switched up in Smile, the two pictures have strikingly similar skeletal outlines. So which works better? Well, the answer is nuanced. But I will get there, I promise.
Similarities aside, I actually found Smile to be the scarier of the two films. Smile made me squirm even more than The Ring. The Ring is absolutely a frightening movie. And it certainly delivers a number of solid scares throughout its runtime. But The Ring has never gotten under my skin to the extent that Smile did. All things considered,I would say The Ring is the better film. But I have to hand it to Smile director Parker Finn for crafting a level of palpable tension that cuts even deeper than the feature by which it was clearly inspired.
Also See: THE RING’s Samara Makes Sneaky Cameos in Series of Commercials for Paramount+
Smile follows Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), a psychiatrist in the emergency mental health department of a healthcare facility. Shortly after we meet her, she witnesses a patient she believes is experiencing trauma-induced hallucinations complete suicide while wearing a terrifying grin. From that point on, Rose begins to experience hallucinations similar to that which her late patient described. Accordingly, she starts to suspect that whatever evil was haunting her patient has taken up residence inside her own mind. That realization hurls Rose into a frantic race to identify what’s haunting her before she becomes its next victim.
I mentioned previously that Smile is supremely haunting and that distinction is true from the get-go. The flick makes incredibly effective use of its hospital setting. Hospitals are a place most of us go out of our way to avoid. They serve as a reminder of our own mortality and that sickness could strike anyone at any time. In framing the onset of the action in and around that setting, Finn already has the viewer in an uncomfortable place. We’re instantly feeling tension on a subconscious level prior to the inciting event. Granted, the inciting event transpires just over ten minutes into the picture’s runtime. But, nonetheless, Finn doesn’t waste a moment going to work making the audience uncomfortable by way of location, sterile set design, and no shortage of atmosphere.
One additional piece of what makes the film so scary is the way the horrors at play are so closely tied to mental health. The way Finn taps into the inherent terrors associated with being mentally unwell is highly effective. He does a commendable job leaning into the horrors of feeling like a prisoner in one’s own mind and body. Mental illness causes us to think and act in ways that are out of character and completely unlike ourselves. And there are few scarier thoughts than feeling like you’re not in control of your own mind and body.
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With all that said, I do think the mental health metaphor is laid on a little thick at times. But the depictions of mental health and the associated horrors are effectively portrayed. Additionally, Smile does a commendable job providing commentary on the various ways in which mental health is demonized and trivialized in our society.
Further, the film makes very effective use of jump scares and terrifying imagery. The sequence where the security company operator tells Rose to look behind her makes me jump out of my skin. Even though I knew what was coming the second time I watched the film, I couldn’t help but react in a major way. It’s so well done. The way the camera lingers on Rose’s back for what feels like an eternity as she gradually turns around amps up the tension in a monumental way. Additionally, the scene where Rose’s therapist pays her a visit at her home unsettles me to my very core. The relationship a client has with their mental health practitioner is sacred and to see that relationship violated is stomach-churning. Moreover, the way the associated scare comes with nearly no warning chills me to my very core.
All in, Smile is a highly effective horror picture that borrows liberally from The Ring but manages to stand on its own as a supremely terrifying effort.
If you’re curious to check out Smile, it’s streaming on Paramount+ as of the publication of this post. And if you’re due to revisit The Ring, you are in luck, as it is also streaming on Paramount+.
Categorized:Editorials
