{"id":86258,"date":"2022-10-04T03:18:32","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T03:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/a-delightfully-unsettling-horror-movie\/"},"modified":"2022-10-04T03:18:32","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T03:18:32","slug":"a-delightfully-unsettling-horror-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/a-delightfully-unsettling-horror-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"A Delightfully Unsettling Horror Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Say cheese. A new horror movie has arrived in theaters and has featured a marketing campaign like no other. Brief teaser trailers showcasing creepy smiles, actors smirking maniacally a the camera at Major League Baseball games, and the fact that this movie shifted from a streaming release to a theatrical one following positive test screenings has the world waiting for smile<\/strong>. This movie follows psychiatrist Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), who gets haunted by an entity with an evil smile after witnessing a traumatic incident with one of her patients.<\/p>\n

smile<\/strong> is a unique, well-directed horror movie. It is another fine addition to September’s phenomenal run of original films and a great one for closing out the month. This movie comes out the same month as films like barbarian<\/strong> and pearls<\/strong>, and it may be even better than those. When the trailer came out, it was genuinely challenging to decide whether this would be an excellent horror movie or an absolute trainwreck. Fortunately, it was the former, as smile<\/strong> will blow you out of the water with how well-written, intense, and genuinely scary it can be. Who knew what horrors would be found within this frightening feature?<\/p>\n

I went into smile<\/strong> expecting to hate it. I wasn’t fully onboard for the first few minutes. At first, it felt as if the opening scene was not chilling enough, another character would have been a worthy protagonist, and the movie could have been another Truth or Dare<\/strong> \u2014 another movie that uses evil smiles as its antagonist. However, the movie quickly picks up the pace and gets you onboard with its horrifying, gory imagery that avoids being gratuitous while perfectly depicting the scary nature of the movie. While this premise could have easily slipped into comical territory, it works surprisingly well.<\/p>\n

smile<\/strong> is written and directed by Parker Finn in his feature directorial debut. This is a superb debut from a strong horror filmmaker. His camera movements and use of darkness are stylish and phenomenal. One of the key talking points this movie may start among audiences is the amount of jump scares it features. While it offers many jump scares, they are not cheap, false, or ineffective. Some horror movies feature characters grabbing the protagonist’s shoulder accompanied by a piercing noise; this is not that movie. The jump scares can sometimes catch you off guard, which is the highest compliment that I can give to a movie that uses this cinematic technique.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There are times in smile<\/strong> where you feel the dread and terror the protagonist goes through. Sometimes, you may even find yourself covering your eyes, afraid to look at what might be peeking through the shadows. The scariest thing about the antagonist is that it is not a monster with a weakness. The antagonist is invisible and unstoppable, taking you down a cursed path similar to what we saw in films like The Ring<\/strong> and It Follows<\/strong>. The movie does a phenomenal job setting up a ticking clock, high stakes, and a lot of fear, as you never know what happens next.<\/p>\n

What makes this even better is how the antagonist does not only scare Rose. Instead, the antagonist takes advantage of Rose’s trauma and uses it against her while ruining her life. The best horror movies, such as candyman<\/strong>, orphan<\/strong>and The Invisible Man<\/strong>, have antagonists that isolate the hero and make their lives a living hell. This movie does an excellent job of that while exploring themes of trauma and letting go of it. The only issue with the film is a final act that nearly undercuts what made the movie scary in the first place, but ultimately lands back on two feet. smile<\/strong> is an intense horror movie dealing with survivor’s guilt that exceeds all expectations. By the film’s end, I found my palms sweating \u2014 something I’d never experienced.<\/p>\n

\n

SCORE<\/strong>: 8\/10<\/h3>\n

As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to \u201cGreat.\u201d While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the art succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.<\/p>\n\n

Disclosure: The critic attended a press screening for ComingSoon’s smile<\/b> review.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Say cheese. A new horror movie has arrived in theaters and has featured a marketing campaign like no other. Brief teaser trailers showcasing creepy smiles, actors smirking maniacally a the camera at Major League Baseball games, and the fact that this movie shifted from a streaming release to a theatrical one following positive test screenings …<\/p>\n

A Delightfully Unsettling Horror Movie<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":85287,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/paramounts-smile-makes-22-million-box-office-debut\/","url_meta":{"origin":86258,"position":0},"title":"Paramount’s Smile Makes $22 Million Box Office Debut","date":"October 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Image: ParamountAs it goes every year, the month of October is when horror movies shine. Such a slate for the month includes Halloween Ends and a re-release of Trick 'r Treat, but first, we're kicking things off with a smile. And in terms of box office, Paramount's newest movie is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85696,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/smile-star-sosie-bacon-continues-a-certain-horror-movie-legacy\/","url_meta":{"origin":86258,"position":1},"title":"Smile Star Sosie Bacon Continues A Certain Horror Movie Legacy","date":"October 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In Ryan Scott's \/Film interview with Sosie Bacon, the actress discussed the challenge of going from \"number three or four on the call sheet\" in her previous film and television projects to now starring in \"Smile.\" I'll confess that I did not even realize she was Sedgwick and Bacon's daughter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":76780,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/smile-review-a-hard-hitting-horror-movie-that-puts-a-grin-on-your-face\/","url_meta":{"origin":86258,"position":2},"title":"Smile review: A hard-hitting horror movie that puts a grin on your face","date":"September 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Polygon is on the ground at the 2022 Fantastic Fest, reporting on new horror, sci-fi, and action movies making their way to theaters and streaming. This review was published in conjunction with the film's Fantastic Fest premiere. Parker Finn's debut horror movie smile is carefully calibrated to do different things\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85729,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/smile-opens-wide-with-box-office-topping-22-million-in-the-united-states\/","url_meta":{"origin":86258,"position":3},"title":"‘Smile’ Opens Wide With Box Office-Topping $22 Million in the United States","date":"October 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Parker Finn's smile opened wide across the United States over the weekend, the film generating a whole lot of buzz on the internet not only with positive reviews but also a clever viral marketing campaign that brought the film's creepy smilers out in the real world. That buzz, as we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/bloody-disgusting.com\/movie\/3732641\/smile-poster-finds-a-new-face-ahead-of-fantastic-fest-premiere\/attachment\/smile-6\/","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":84874,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/box-office-smile-bests-bros-with-impressive-22-million-opening\/","url_meta":{"origin":86258,"position":4},"title":"Box Office: ‘Smile’ Bests ‘Bros’ With Impressive $22 Million Opening","date":"October 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Paramount's \u201cSmile\u201d debuted to a sizzling $22 million this weekend, easily topping the domestic box office. The horror movie beat out the weekend's other new wide release, Universal's LGBTQ romantic comedy \u201cBros,\u201d which landed in fourth place with a paltry $4.8 million bow. \u201cSmile\u201d ranks as one of the better\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83412,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/smiles-ending-explained-the-movie-teaches-you-how-to-watch-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":86258,"position":5},"title":"Smile’s ending, explained: ‘The movie teaches you how to watch it’","date":"October 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In some ways, Parker Finn's feature debut smile is a standard horror movie, where a central character (hospital therapist Rose, played by Sosie Bacon) falls prey to a supernatural phenomenon and spends most of the movie dealing with the increasingly terrifying battle to understand, resist, and survive what's happening to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn-www.comingsoon.net\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/10\/smile-review-header.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86258"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86258\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}