Smile (2022)
81%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Deeply creepy visuals and a standout Sosie Bacon further elevate Smile’s unsettling exploration of trauma, adding up to the rare feature that satisfyingly expands on a short.
If you’re in the mood for some spine-tingling visuals and a performance that’ll make you sit up and take notice, then Smile is the movie for you. Sosie Bacon is a total standout in this flick that delves into the dark and disturbing world of trauma. And let’s be real, who doesn’t love a movie that takes a short and turns it into a full-blown feature? It’s like getting a bonus round of scares and thrills. So buckle up and get ready to be creeped out in the best way possible.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Paramount Players, Psychological, Temple Hill Entertainment
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Wide)
Filming Location(s)
New Jersey, United States
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
2022
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.00 : 1
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Runtime:1h 55m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 30, 2022 Wide
Genre(s)
Horror/Mystery & thriller
Keyword(s)
starring Sosie Bacon, Jessie Usher, Kyle Gallner, Robin Weigert, Caitlin Stasey, Kal Penn, directed by Parker Finn, written by Parker Finn, horror, mystery, thriller, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Katie Walsh, Wendy Ide, Anton Bitel, Valerie Complex, Amon Warmann, James Berardinelli, Sebastian Zavala Kahn, Nick Allen, Fausto Fernandez, Jack Bottomley, Mel Valentin, Lindsay Traves, Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Robert Salerno, R rating, trauma, patient, terror, past, reality, unsettling, visuals, creepy, standout performance, short expansion, Paramount Pictures
Worldwide gross: $217,408,513
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $216,135,048
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 652
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 23,569,798
US/Canada gross: $105,935,048
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $105,935,048
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 707
US/Canada opening weekend: $22,609,925
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $22,609,925
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 594
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $17,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $17,000,000
Production budget ranking: 1,411
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $9,154,500
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $189,980,548
ROI to date (est.): 726%
ROI ranking: 171
Jessie Usher –
Kyle Gallner –
Robin Weigert –
Caitlin Stasey –
Kal Penn –
Director(s)
Parker Finn
Writer(s)
Parker Finn
Producer(s)
Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Robert Salerno
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (133) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (102) | Rotten (31)
As opaque and somewhat silly as the smiles that drive it. October 3, 2022 | Rating: 2/4
Katie Walsh
Tribune News Service
TOP CRITIC
The combination of a committed central performance from the increasingly gaunt and haunted Bacon, and a jarring, tortured score, makes for an enjoyably nasty brush with the smiling face of evil.
October 3, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Wendy Ide
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
a finely tuned if derivative cross-country dash for catharsis, ultimately leading back to the remote, dilapidated seat of [protagonist] Rose’s trauma
October 3, 2022
Anton Bitel
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
The most significant hallmark of Smile isn’t necessarily about the horrors of trauma but what happens when you’re brave enough to address it and things still go wrong.
October 2, 2022
Valerie Complex
Deadline Hollywood Daily
TOP CRITIC
Though it may be derivative, Smile still manages to be a scary, unsettling ride that’s powered by an impressively committed Sosie Bacon performance and some assured direction. Finn is one to watch.
October 2, 2022 | Rating: 3/5
Amon Warmann
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
For those who appreciate true horror (as opposed to the more palatable version that has supplanted it over the years), this is a reminder that movies of this sort have the twin goals of unsettling and upsetting.
October 2, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
TOP CRITIC
It is the only truly terrifying movie that I have been able to see in the cinema so far this year, and I doubt very much that any other production will come out that will surpass it. Full review in Spanish.
October 4, 2022 | Rating: 4.5/5
Sebastian Zavala Kahn
Me gusta el cine
The kind of horror movie that earns the unique qualification of “genuinely scary.”
October 4, 2022 | Rating: B+
Nick Allen
The Playlist
Smile brings us back to those good ole hair-raising times…
October 3, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Fausto Fernandez
Fotogramas
Any cliches put to work, are done so to urge viewers to participate, before cutting them down with the levels the film is actually prepared to go to.
October 3, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Jack Bottomley
Starburst
Despite being a first-time director, Finn proves himself no novice, expertly using space, composition, and camera movement to create and maintain an escalating sense of existential dread.
October 3, 2022
Mel Valentin
That Shelf
Smile is not for the faint of heart and is not likely to be the comfy cozy October rainy day watch. This ruthless horror story is grim indictment of mental health stigmas wrapped in a terrifying batch of scares.
October 3, 2022
Lindsay Traves
Pajiba…
Plot
After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality. Based on Parker Finn’s short film “Laura Hasn’t Slept.”
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Sosie Bacon, who plays the lead role of Dr. Rose Cotter, is the daughter of actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.
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