Smile

I liked Smile. It’s a solid horror movie that kept me engaged, but I couldn’t help feeling like it was missing something. The premise is really strong, and it teases a deeper psychological exploration that I was excited for, but it didn’t fully deliver on that front. Sosie Bacon gave a good performance as Dr. Rose Cotter, and the film did a great job building tension and delivering scares, but the direction and script felt like they held back from something greater. Interestingly, the movie was made on a $17 million budget and ended up grossing over $217 million worldwide, which is seriously impressive. It was originally planned for streaming, but after strong test screenings, it got a theatrical release, and I can see why. The cinematography and atmosphere work so much better on a big screen. I appreciated the effort Parker Finn put into creating a creepy, unsettling vibe, especially for his feature debut, but I wish the story had gone a bit deeper into the psychological themes it hinted at. Overall, it’s a decent horror film that does enough to entertain and has some genuinely tense moments.