“Smile 2” (R, 127 minutes, in theaters) has a lot more going for it than just jump scares.
But in the end … well, we’ll get to that.
The sequel deals with the destructive nature of stardom and celebrity worship while delving into drug use, suicide, mental illness and guilt. Through its central character, pop singing sensation Skye Riley, it shows how absurdly naive, let alone shallow, society’s concept of success can be. That money and fame do not bring happiness isn’t exactly the most original of messages (any movie about Marilyn Monroe has made the point), but the way “Smile 2” delivers it in a horror context has a powerful impact – at least for a while.
Someone’s not smiling: Naomi Scott stars in “Smile 2.” (Paramount Pictures)
That context involves an evil entity that is transferred when one possessed person commits suicide (or, apparently, otherwise dies) in front of another. The newly possessed then is plagued by chilling hallucinations (including people sporting deranged smiles) that drive them to madness and their own suicides. And so it goes.
The sequel begins six weeks after the original film ended (yes, it will be helpful to have seen the first “Smile,” though not essential), as ex-cop Joel (Kyle Gallner) breaks into a drug gang’s den with the intention of killing himself and transferring the evil spirit to one of the murderous dealers.
Writer-director Parker Finn, who also made the first “Smile,” presents this sequence with breathtaking action and suspense, leading to a knock-your-socks-off resolution, all of which suggest we’re in for a first-rate thriller.
The film then shifts to Skye Riley (Naomi Scott). Skye is on the comeback trail, having derailed her career because of heavy drug use and a resultant car accident. Backed by her ambitious stage mom (Rosemarie DeWitt) and a fawning assistant (Miles Gutierrez-Riley), Skye still feels the emotional and physical scars from the accident. Though she limits herself to guzzling water whenever the urge to drink or take drugs arises (which is often), extreme back pain leads her to an acquaintance who has Vicodin.
Things quickly go south from there, and Skye becomes plagued by hallucinations and worse horrors. Meanwhile, Mom and others implore her to keep it together; after all, she has a big upcoming comeback tour!
Good luck with that.
Aside from the themes that arise out of Skye’s circumstances, “Smile 2” benefits from British actor-singer Scott’s portrayal of Skye. Scott has the presence to play – and be – a megastar, while effectively projecting the blend of fighting spirit and tragic vulnerability of her increasingly unhinged character. She’s riveting.
Dylan Gelula also is a big plus as Gemma, Skye’s estranged best friend, who provides a touch of comic relief with her “What’s-going-on-Dude?” perplexed reactions to her old friend’s bizarre new behavior.
And then there’s Finn’s imaginative presentation, such as when he shifts locations by having an elevator open to an aerial shot of a street scene.
But with all of these virtues going for the movie, there’s a problem: the repetition. The repulsive, gory shots used for shock value eventually lose their impact, and just seem nauseating and depressing, while Skye’s ongoing struggle to maintain her sanity and survive, while true to her experience, for the moviegoer becomes monotonous.
These issues might have been avoided with a tighter script and a shorter running time. “Smile 2” clocks in at 127 minutes, which is long for any movie, especially in the horror genre. It might have been great at 90 minutes. **½ (out of four)
Art back clowning around
Another horror sequel, “Terrifier 3” (R, 125 minutes, in theaters) succeeds for what it is. The problem is what it is.
Written and directed by franchise creator Damien Leone, it marks another return of Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), who ranks with the scariest villains/monsters ever to hit the movie screen. Always wearing clown makeup, Art never speaks; he silently cackles and makes funny gestures as he slaughters his victims. He’s like a demonic Harpo Marx.
When it comes to slaughter, Art doesn’t mess around. He rips apart the flesh of his victims, mutilating their faces and bodies, yanking out their entrails. At one point in this Christmas-themed “Terrifier” entry, he decorates a tree by ringing it with human intestines.
Cute.
What is Art? Andy Warhol said it’s a guy’s first name. Take Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), spreading holiday cheer in “Terrifier 3.” (Jesse Korman/Dark Age Cinema)
Hideously disfigured former victim Victoria Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi), now possessed by some evil spirit, enthusiastically joins Art in the mayhem, as the two go on a holiday rampage of torture and murder. Among those on their radar are the Shaw siblings, Sienna (Lauren LaVera) and Jonathan (Elliott Fullam), who managed to survive “Terrifier 2” – though, understandably, with emotional issues.
Beyond that, details of the plot aren’t particularly necessary. The film shifts back and forth between sequences involving the Shaws interacting with extended family and friends, and sequences of Art (mostly) and Victoria mercilessly tearing most of these people apart.
Horror films are supposed to be terrifying, and Art, especially, can produce chills with his vicious smile alone. But there can be a line – sometimes fine, sometimes not – between a good scarefest, offering suspense and the occasional jolt, and torture porn, in which the intended appeal appears to be the sadistic display of relentless brutality.
“Terrifier 3” gleefully crosses that line. *
Speaking of clowns …
The most chilling of the three films considered in this column?
“The Apprentice” (R, 122 minutes, in theaters).
Not everyone will agree, of course. Anything involving Donald Trump is likely to inspire division, and this movie, about young Trump and his friendship (if you can call it that) with the notorious Roy Cohn, could ruffle feathers on both ends of the political spectrum. The right will probably say, as Trump claims, it’s a hatchet job. The left will probably say it doesn’t go far enough in presenting the current presidential candidate’s dark side.
It’s always tricky making a movie about real-life people, whether it’s Trump or the first cast of “Saturday Night Live” (depicted in “Saturday Night”). Unless you personally know the people or have “been there” at certain events, how do you know how accurate or fair a depiction or reenactment might be? And, even then, how do we know what people are like in their private moments?
So we often have to go with our gut, asking ourselves, “Does this ring true?”
Based on what I know of Donald Trump, my gut says “The Apprentice” rings true.
Directed by Ali Abbasi (“Holy Spider”) and written by Gabriel Sherman, the film takes place in the 1970s and 1980s New York as Trump (Sebastian Stan) builds his career as a real-estate mogul.
Jeremy Strong, left, as Roy Cohn, and Sebastian Stan, as Donald Trump, appear in a scene from “The Apprentice.” (Briarcliff Entertainment)
It begins as he tries to emerge from the shadow of his overbearing father, Fred Trump (Martin Donovan), also a real-estate developer, who tends to disregard his son’s ideas. Donald finds a new mentor upon meeting Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the prosecutor who sent Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to their deaths, Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel during McCarthy’s investigations into suspected Communists, and, at this point, a powerful, highly connected lawyer with a reputation for strong-arm tactics.
Taking the inexperienced Trump under his wing, Cohn gives him three rules for success: “attack, attack, attack,” “admit nothing; deny everything” and “claim victory; never admit defeat.”
While Trump, with Cohn’s support, hits the big time with projects like Trump Tower, he also courts and marries Czech model Ivana Zelnickova (Maria Bakalova) – though that relationship, like that of Trump and Cohn, does not end well.
The film is powerfully acted by Stan, Strong and Bakalova, all convincing as their larger-than-life characters. Strong is the standout, playing the closeted Cohn as a mass of contradictions – sharply intelligent but emotionally stunted, intense yet cold, ruthless yet loyal, a “straight talker” who lies without hesitation, amoral yet (to his mind) devoted to America.
Under his influence, Trump gains more and more confidence, and holds himself in increasingly lofty regard while diminishing the contributions and ignoring the needs of others – including Cohn.
In other words, Trump becomes the guy we’ve come to know. ***½
** Click here for Tim Miller’s previous movie columns for Cape Cod Wave **
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Tim Miller, Movie Critic
Tim Miller is co-president of the Boston Society of Film Critics and a Tomatometer-approved critic. He teaches film and journalism at Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or follow him onTwitter @TimMillerCritic. Or you can ignore him completely.
