Smile  ★★★½

THERE’S been a bit of controversy out there about the 2022 horror film Smile.

Then again, does any film these days not attract and/or try to generate controversy? Just in the last couple of weeks, think Don’t Worry Darling and Blonde

Then again, does anything that moves these days not attract controversy?

That subject is another blog for another time.

Smile has been criticised in some quarters for exploiting trauma caused by violence and particularly suicide and the suffering caused by mental illness.

That’s a lot to dump on one little horror film that possibly the first-time writer and director Parker Finn thought would be an entertaining scare.

The basic premise of smile – a supernatural curse that transfers through people by latching onto their trauma and grief – is nothing new and has featured in at least a dozen films over the past five years or so.

Where Smile differs is that the premise does focus on the viewing of suicides as being the trigger for passage of the curse, which puts the film in difficult territory for some people, particularly those who have lived through the suicide death of a friend or relative.

If you have and it remains a troubling experience I would strongly suggest not going to see Smile.

For the rest of us, I think one interesting thing that Smile does differently is to portray our reactions to mental illness in a bad, but unfortunately realistic, light.

The main character, and several others who are victims of the curse, are obviously suffering badly from a form of psychosis. The other characters they interact with don’t know or believe that a supernatural curse is the cause. Therefore, they must think them to be mentally ill.

Yet the way they treat them, even their closest relatives and friends, is not at all useful, displaying suspicion, fear and even loathing.

Whether Finn intended this or not, that’s how I saw it come across and it added some depth and emotion to the proceedings.

All the above aside, Smile is an entertaining scarefest that will more than satisfy the average horror fan with plenty of jump scares and a finale act that doesn’t wimp out.

It also features a very good main performance from Sosie Bacon who is the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.