Smile 2cracks its way into theaters in time for Halloween on October 18,2024, continuing the unnerving supernatural curse introduced by writer/director Parker Finn in 2022. The original chiller followed Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), a therapist increasingly tormented by a gaggle of grinning ghouls after witnessing a patient commit suicide. With nearly all the original cast members gone,Smile 2shifts the focus to budding pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott).
Yet, beyond the returning writer/director and sinister premise, there is one more key connection betweenSmileandSmile 2. Understanding how the two films link together entails exploring the one character who reprises their role from the original and bridges the overarching narrative. Here’s howSmileandSmile 2connect as an official cinematic horror movie sequel.
What Is Smile About?
Smile is a psychological horror filmby American writer/director Parker Finn in his feature film debut. Released in September 2022, Smile is based on Finn’s 2020 short filmLaura Hasn’t Slept, following therapist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) as she visits a haunted teenager named Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey) in a psych ward. Upon witnessing Laura’s smile before slicing her throat, Rose becomes increasingly tormented by a strange curse that manifests a creepy evil grin on those affected.
Following Laura’s death, Rose investigates the bizarre curse as she continues to be haunted by sinister smiles, but is met with resistance from those who believe she is losing her mind. For instance, Rose’s former therapist (Robin Weigert) claims the trauma resulted from her childhood, and her fiancé, Trevor (Jessie T. Usher) believes she is going insane.
The only person willing to help Rose is Joel (Kyle Gallner), her ex-boyfriend and police officer who has access to criminal records and suicidal death certificates. Rose asks Joel to review his files for suspicious clues and the two begin uncovering the source of the supernatural curse.
What Happens to Joel in Smile?
Once Rose and Joel investigate old police records, they discover several suicides involving the sinister smile taking place in one week. As Rose tries to patch things up with Trevor, he conspires with Rose’s therapist to stage an intervention. Rose becomes angry and accuses her older sister Holly (Gillian Zinser) of failing to care for her following their mother’s death. Joel helps Rose realize that one person survived the smiling curse, a convicted murderer named Robert Talley (Rob Morgan).
Visiting Robert in jail, the convict explains that the supernatural entity responsible for the smiling curse preys on childhood trauma. More disturbing,Robert explains the only way to flee the curse is to gorily kill a person in front of a witness to trigger the requisite trauma, perpetuating a vicious cycle of death and destruction. Once Rose learns the secret, the entity manifests in different forms through visual hallucinations.
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Racing to her childhood home, Rose encounters the entity in the form of her mother.The entity attacks Rose before a fire lights the house ablaze. Rose flees to Joel’s apartment, only to see Joel sporting the accursed maniacal grin. When Rose realizes Joel is another visual projection, the real culprit finally flashes its face.
Smileends with Rose witnessingthe entity’s true form, a skinless monsterwith a massive maw and rows of jagged teeth. Witnessing the horrific sight is traumatic enough to possess Rose, allowing the entity to enter her body through her mouth. Rose becomes fully possessed by the entity and lights the house on fire.Joel breaks down the door moments too late and becomes accursed after witnessing Rose smiling among the flames.
Joel’s Return in Smile 2 Connects Both Films
To answer up front, Joel does returninthe horror sequel Smile 2. Kyle Gallner is the only actor to reprise their roles from the originalSmile, sequentially connecting both movies on a linear timeline.WhenSmile 2begins, Joel is still cursed by the entity, thereby springboarding the new narrative involving pop musician Skye Riley.
In addition to Naomi Scott leading the way,Smile 2stars Drew Barrymore, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Peter Jacobson, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Raul Castillo, Dylan Gelula, and Ray Nicholson.
According to Paramount Pictures,Smile 2picks up when:
“Pop sensation Skye Riley begins to experience a series of increasingly disturbing and daunting events as she is about to go on a new world tour and is forced to face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control.”
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Paramount has done a good job keeping plot details under wraps, with Gallner avoiding spoilers when asked about Joel’s return inSmile 2(as reported by Deadline). However, Gallner did discuss his enthusiasm about working with Parker Finn again, stating:
“I’m a big, big, big fan of Parker’s. I think Parker’s incredibly smart, I think he’s really talented. I really think he’s one of the best working directors right now. And the things he comes up with and the way his mind works is pretty amazing. So to be able to step back on set with him and get to play with him again is a lot of fun. Getting to meet a whole new cast and get to know them was…it’s always fun. It’s a rare thing to work with a director more than once or even on a sequel, so I’m really grateful to have been part of both of these.”
Joel is the one character connectingSmiletoits sequelSmile 2, with Kyle Gallner the sole actor reprising his role from the original.
