This was my favorite horror movie of the year. It was the only movie that actually scared me. However, I watched it a second time to, and unfortunately the scare factor for me was nearly nonexistent on the second viewing. I agree the first scene didn’t explain how the demon went from the cop to Lewis. I tried looking for something upon my second viewing, but I couldn’t really find anything. As far as we know, Lewis was still in the house when the cop got hit by the truck. So it’s either a plot hole or there’s some rule that we missed in terms of the curse getting transferred. I agree with your positive on the reality perception of the viewer and character. A lot of people didn’t like how everything was revealed to be not real at the end, but it didn’t bother me at all, and I actually thought it was done very well. It was one of my favorite parts about the film. Another positive I have is the music. The two songs that we hear the most are “New Brain” during the dance rehearsal and “Blood on White Satin.” I’ve listened to those songs several times now. And who would have thought Smile 2 would have more memorable songs than the “Musical” Joker 2. 😂 My final positive is that Naomi Scortt I thought put on an incredible performance. I felt her anxiety, confusion, and fear the entire movie. She displayed those emotions very well. And I also like the character being a super popular singer. The dynamic of being a pop singer and being cursed with the Smile demon thing I enjoyed quite a bit. I am personally a big fan of Smile 1, and Smile 2 was even better, so I had this movie in my top 5 for the year, but I may move it down a little after watching Smile 2 for a second time.
You make some really good points! I agree that Scott did a great job looking terrified and every time she pulled a piece of hair out it looked so real! I believe you on the scariness factor dissipating on the second view because the movie unfortunately relied on jump scares for just about every scare in the film. I had the same experience with the movie Lights Out back in the day. I was terrified the first time I watched it but on repeat viewings the less scary it became because the whole film revolved around jump scares and eventually your brain knows when those jump scares are coming. I didn’t pay enough attention to the music on my first viewing but it’ll definitely be something I look for on a second viewing in the future! I think I ranked this somewhere in the middle of horror this year. I don’t think films in 2024 have been especially good overall this year, but horror this year has been much better than last year for sure.
I only saw the first one once but I remember enjoying the premise. I enjoyed this one but found too many moments replicating the first film to really love this one.
Definitely had similar tones and similar issues. I would agree that this is a much better movie than Trap but think it’s equally irritating in some of its choices.
The scariest thing about this movie was the Better Man trailer playing before it. My actual text message reactions after I saw the trailer: "WTF is this monkey movie It scares me. Scarier than clowns"
This was my favorite horror movie of the year. It was the only movie that actually scared me. However, I watched it a second time to, and unfortunately the scare factor for me was nearly nonexistent on the second viewing.
I agree the first scene didn’t explain how the demon went from the cop to Lewis. I tried looking for something upon my second viewing, but I couldn’t really find anything. As far as we know, Lewis was still in the house when the cop got hit by the truck. So it’s either a plot hole or there’s some rule that we missed in terms of the curse getting transferred.
I agree with your positive on the reality perception of the viewer and character. A lot of people didn’t like how everything was revealed to be not real at the end, but it didn’t bother me at all, and I actually thought it was done very well. It was one of my favorite parts about the film.
Another positive I have is the music. The two songs that we hear the most are “New Brain” during the dance rehearsal and “Blood on White Satin.” I’ve listened to those songs several times now. And who would have thought Smile 2 would have more memorable songs than the “Musical” Joker 2. 😂
My final positive is that Naomi Scortt I thought put on an incredible performance. I felt her anxiety, confusion, and fear the entire movie. She displayed those emotions very well. And I also like the character being a super popular singer. The dynamic of being a pop singer and being cursed with the Smile demon thing I enjoyed quite a bit.
I am personally a big fan of Smile 1, and Smile 2 was even better, so I had this movie in my top 5 for the year, but I may move it down a little after watching Smile 2 for a second time.
You make some really good points! I agree that Scott did a great job looking terrified and every time she pulled a piece of hair out it looked so real!
I believe you on the scariness factor dissipating on the second view because the movie unfortunately relied on jump scares for just about every scare in the film.
I had the same experience with the movie Lights Out back in the day.
I was terrified the first time I watched it but on repeat viewings the less scary it became because the whole film revolved around jump scares and eventually your brain knows when those jump scares are coming.
I didn’t pay enough attention to the music on my first viewing but it’ll definitely be something I look for on a second viewing in the future!
I think I ranked this somewhere in the middle of horror this year.
I don’t think films in 2024 have been especially good overall this year, but horror this year has been much better than last year for sure.
I liked it more than the original. They actually did a better job with the budget.
I only saw the first one once but I remember enjoying the premise. I enjoyed this one but found too many moments replicating the first film to really love this one.
Did anyone else feel like this was a lateral revision of "Trap" for some odd reason? And it does the M Night thing better in this one.
Definitely had similar tones and similar issues. I would agree that this is a much better movie than Trap but think it’s equally irritating in some of its choices.
The scariest thing about this movie was the Better Man trailer playing before it. My actual text message reactions after I saw the trailer:
"WTF is this monkey movie
It scares me.
Scarier than clowns"
That looks so bad. I’ll be skipping entirely.
Good sequel with flaws. I’d say see it for Naomi Scott’s performance.
She did a great job looking terrified! Great point!