Psycho, The Exorcist, A Nightmare on Elm Street, all famous, or infamous horror movies based on one’s opinion of the genre. What makes these, for their time, terrifying movies so captivating is the twist, the concept itself has to be eye-catching to even consider watching these days. Once a category of movies simply containing blood and a few jump-scares, has now been transformed as the average viewer’s palette gets continually expansive and darker. This forever climbing group has evolved ten times over to reach the high expectations of audiences, many of which flail at the crowd’s feet, barely garnering a flinch. Every once and a while, however, there is a film to rise to the occasion. Smile (2022) seemingly is one such movie.

Smiles are often characterized and worn with good intentions, yet, the use of smiles in horror is not new as films portray murderers and villains smiling as a way to intimidate and unsettle the audience. This concept has gone relatively unspoken, simply seen as another emblem in horror movies, all until Smile. Bringing attention to an afterthought in most minds and contributing to the persistent fear of strangers acclimating to a more aware world thanks to technology. The main character Dr. Rose Cotter is a psychiatrist working in an emergency facility, a stressful and often scary enough environment on its own, just for the added dread of a supernatural force only visible to the victims. Thus making supporting characters worry for Rose’s sanity as she confides in them her repeating “hallucinations” after the monster makes itself apparent in her life via jump-scares and often unreliable narration. Once again the trope of side characters not believing main characters in a horror movie is pretty popular, and for good reason. After all, what is more distressing than being in peril just for the ones you trust the most to perceive you as “crazy”? Comparable to The Invisible Man (2020), Cotter is isolated by this force, corresponding to the symptoms of mental illnesses others assume of her. All of these themes aside, the true horror of the story, more specifically the monster is the trauma it represents. In an interview with the New York Times, the director of the feature, Parker Finn states, “We walk around with traumas, and to not let anyone in, we will wear a smile as a mask… I wanted the smile to be a mask to hide evil’s true intentions.” Such mental anguish is both terrifyingly relatable as a witness and cruelly personal for the victims.

Such a turn on usual elements in movies, Finn has created something new and surprisingly subtle out of often overused cliches. With ratings and box office profit to show for it, Smile has won over a very critical audience and horror fanatics are raving, giving an official “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a worldwide gross of $169 million after a 17 million budget. In comprehension, Smile (2022) has been accepted as a sigh of relief in the horror community, standing out as an original and frightening gift.