Smile 2copied the first movie’s finale in a major way. The firstSmilemovie was released in 2022 and grossed $217 million at the worldwide box office on a budget of just $17 million. Therefore,Smile 2was quickly confirmed. While 2022’sSmilefollowed Rose, a psychiatrist who started seeing terrifying visions after witnessing a brutal death,Smile 2took a different direction and focused on Skye, a famous pop star. However, while Rose and Skye’s lives couldn’t be more different, their arcs throughoutSmileandSmile 2are very similar.
BothSmilemovies are written and directed by Parker Finn, who has emphasized the theme of trauma throughout the horror series. Themysterious Smile entitylikes to latch onto people with traumatic pasts and feed off of them.This makes both Rose and Skye tragic characters in theSmilefranchise, and this is why the major death scenes at theending ofSmileandSmile 2are presented in very similar ways.
Smile 2 Doesn’t Explicitly Show Skye’s Death Scene
Thousands Of Skye’s Fans Watch Her Die
InSmile 2, Finn gives the audience hope that Skye can defeat the Smile entity and get rid of the curse which is infecting her mind. Skye meets up withMorris inSmile 2,who claims to know how to kill the Smile entity. Morris' thesis is that the Smile entity will die if its host dies before it can finish infecting their mind. Therefore, he wants to trap Skye in a freezer, since the colder temperature will delay any brain damage before Morris can revive her, after the Smile entity is dead.
Unfortunately, Skye and Morris' attempt to kill the Smile entity all turned out to be one of Skye’s hallucinations inSmile 2.
Eventually, Skye agrees to Morris' plan and meets him at an abandoned Pizza Hut. Unfortunately, Skye and Morris' attempt to kill the Smile entity all turned out to be one of Skye’s hallucinations inSmile 2. At theend ofSmile 2, Skye ends up performing in front of thousands of fans, and brutally kills herself on stage.
However,Smile 2’sending focuses on the crowd’s reaction to Skye’s death. The movie’s viewers can hear what’s happening with the mic, but only see the aftermath of the death. This is similar to Rose’s death during the finale of the firstSmilemovie. In the firstSmile, Rose can only be seen burning through Joel’s eyes, whom the Smile entity attaches itself to next.
Why The Smile Movies End By Showing Other People Watching Rose & Skye’s Deaths
The Smile Entity Wants To Attach Itself To More Victims
Not showing Rose and Skye’s death in theSmilefranchise perfectly reflects the strategy of the Smile entity, which latches itself onto new victims after making them witness a gruesome, traumatic death. In a way, bothSmileandSmile 2break the fourth wall by not showing Rose and Skye’s death to the viewers, since the real-life audience members are spared from the curse. However,the observers watching their deaths in the movie are not spared from the curse, so the camera focuses on them as they watch the horrific event take place.
Smile 2’s Rose Cameo Makes The Original Movie’s Ending Even Darker
Smile 2 sneakily includes a Rose Cotter cameo that makes the original movie’s ending even darker thanks to the fate of Sosie Bacon’s character.
After watching Rose burn herself inSmile, the curse is passed on to Joel.Smile 2begins with Joel trying to pass the curse to a criminal. However, his plan fails and he ends up dead as well. Therefore, based on the rules of the franchise,the ending ofSmile 2suggests that everyone in the crowd at Skye’s concert will now be corrupted by the Smile entity, which raises the stakes significantly for apotentialSmile 3.
Seeing Skye & Rose’s Deaths Would Make The Smile Movies More Bleak
Neither Rose Nor Skye Defeats The Smile Entity
BothSmilemovies are already very bleak. ThroughoutSmileandSmile 2, the audience has hope that Rose and Skye can defeat the Smile entity. However, both movies end with the tragic deaths of the main characters. Explicitly showing Rose and Skye’s deaths to the audience would make the movies feel even more hopeless. Sincethe Smile entity wants to traumatize the observers as much as possible, it forces Rose and Skye to end their lives in horrific ways, so it is probably for the best that these deaths are not shown.
Watching Rose and Skye experience terrifying visions throughoutSmileandSmile 2makes viewers sympathize with them. Since viewers feel so attached to these characters by the end of each movie, allowing their death scenes to happen off-screen saves the audience from even more heartbreak and horror. However,others seeing the deaths of Rose and Skye means the Smile entity lives on, which ensures that bothSmileandSmile 2are still very depressing, hopeless horror films.
Smile 2
Cast
Smile 2 is the sequel to the 2022 psychological horror film by director Parker Finn that centers on a therapist who witnesses a patient’s suicide, leading to a series of terrifying supernatural events. The sequel will see the return of Finn as director, with Paramount continuing distribution.
