After seeing those unavoidable previews at every turn, I didn’t have high expectations for Smile. I went in with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised, however. Written and directed by Parker Finn, Smile utilizes very artistic filmmaking with Finn’s choices in camera movements and angles. Close-ups are used to make conversations more personal. Tilts, 360 pans, zooms, and crane shots rotating upside-down give the dizzying sense of the distortion between reality and what’s in character’s minds.

Dr. Rose Cotter talks to a new patient who explains she’s being followed by an evil shape-shifter that wears an eerie smile on its face. After she commits suicide in front of her Rose starts seeing similar occurrences to what her patient described so she must find a way to save herself.

There’s an intensely strong sense of looming dread to Smile. Innovative lighting and shadow techniques add to the super suspenseful atmosphere. The unexpected quirky, offbeat humour never feels out of place and offsets the jump scares nicely. Most were truly shocking, but it becomes over-reliant on them. It also boasts great practical effects for the gore and it’s way more violent than I excepted, so I was pleasantly surprised. I feel like it’s better if they didn’t show the monster because the CGI is laughable. It’s written in a way so characters are well-rounded for the most part. Except for a few side one-dimensional side characters it feels like real people having discussions and reacting naturally.

Sosie Bacon plays Rose. She’s so convincing as someone desperately looking for anybody to listen while doubting her sanity on a slow decline into desperation. Her phenomenal performance carries the film. Jessie T. Usher is Trevor, her fiance. He’s great, but needed more screen time because he inexplicably disappears eventually. I actually thought they broke up until she briefly mentions him. Kyle Gallner is Joel, Rose’s cop ex-boyfriend who helps her investigate the mystery of how to stop the entity. His performance is good and you can really tell how much he cares for her through his actions.

Caitlin Stasey is Laura Weaver, the patient who sets things in motion, and she amazingly simulates fear in her engaging performance. Rob Morgan plays Robert Talley, a miraculous survivor of the entity with a small, but impactful role. It’s always a joy to see him on-screen even if it’s for a limited time. I also like the score by Cristobal Tapia de Veer, because it sets a very creepy tone. Now comes the spoiler alert/trigger warning, because I need to acknowledge something so people can avoid seeing the film if they so choose–why did the cat have to die?

Overall, for the most part, despite glaring plot issues like the logic to defeat the evil entity, Smile is a cleverly written slow-burn story that subverts expectations. It’s excellently paced, engaging, and entertaining. While over-reliant on jump scares, it’s still one of the scariest films this year. It reminds me of Child’s Play, Sinister, The Ring, Truth or Dare, and It Follows. I’d recommend it to fans of those films. The theatre was packed and it got a positive response from the audience, too. And remember, I might be a joker but it’s no joke this film put its namesake on my face.

9 out of 10