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'Smile' recovers the boom in horror movies about curses at the end of the 90s that started with the Japanese 'Ringu' (and its remake 'The Ring La Señal', which this week has turned 20) and 'The curse ( Ju-on)' with its unforeseen frights and its ghosts populating the dark corners of the house while the protagonists try to understand the operation of a deadly curse that weighs on them and fight to counteract it.
If Sadako, the girl from the well in 'Ringu', left television a week after watching her cursed video to end your life, in 'Smile' it is a demonic entity that chases you after witnessing a traumatic death and harasses you from a creepy smile that you can find on the faces of strangers and, even more disturbing, on acquaintances. As in 'It Follows', one of the best recent horror movies, anyone around you can be an instrument of a curse that never rests until it achieves its purpose, which is none other than to continue its legacy of death and suffering.
However 'Smile' faces the curse from the perspective of mental illness, with a psychiatrist as the protagonist (Dr. Rose Cotter) and victims who are ignored by friends and family, and even by the police, considering that their paranoid behavior and his subsequent suicide are the order of the day because. Well, because they were "crazy".
The evil entity of 'Smile' feeds on the trauma of people who lived a near death as children and never got over it, reliving that suffering by causing a violent suicide again right under their noses and consuming the person until she finished the same shape as the previous link in the cursed chain. Like a mental illness, torment is something that only the person involved can understand and suffer, something that only they see and feel, and that collides with the understanding of those around them. A mental cancer that consumes her little by little based on hallucinations and manipulations of reality, until she completely detaches herself from it.
Parker Finn, the film's director, tells Polygon that “Everyone walks around with these things inside of themselves that are deeply rooted in their core, that are based on their stories and traumas. And I wanted to use that, and also explore what it would be like to have your mind turned against you. For me, that is one of my biggest fears.”
Many talk about the cinematic experience as the ideal way to watch a movie. I do not deny that it can become so, but then there are many conditions that can tarnish it to unexpected limits. Sometimes it's a technical thing, be it an unexpected mistake or the theater doesn't have the best equipment, but more often than not there are people there who don't seem to give a damn about the movie in question.
Obviously, that happens the more massive the pass is, something that the recent Film Festival favors. For example, a few weeks ago I went to see 'Three thousand years waiting for you' and I didn't have the slightest problem with the rest of the people in the room. Unfortunately, the same thing didn't happen yesterday with 'Smile', where I rediscovered how rude people can be.
With that I am not referring to the expected reactions to what was happening on the screen, since the estimable film written and directed by Parker Finn is full of jumpscares, which causes the viewer to react in a different way. There are those who are allergic to this horror film and they don't care a bit, but in other cases they cause shocks of all kinds and even some small comment in a low voice about what happened. It makes sense for that to happen and it can even be contagious to immerse yourself more in what 'Smile' proposes.
I can't say the same for seeing how the person sitting next to me took a phone call during the final stretch of the movie, completely screwing me up by the climax of 'Smile'. Be careful, it's not that he took the call and went to continue talking or hung up quickly, since anyone can make a mistake like this, it's that he easily spent 5-10 minutes on the phone chatting with what seemed to be a client of his.
It was useless for me to turn around to see if that would shut up, because the call must have been so important that the movie took a back seat, not to mention the rest of the people in the room. The last straw of all this was that in the end he did apologize for what happened, but to the other person he was talking to because he was making a lot of noise in the room. He didn't say anything about the fact that he was in a cinema watching a movie.
I am clear that we have all had unpleasant experiences watching a movie in theaters. I still remember when watching 'Anacleto, a secret agent' a couple was masturbating for practically the entire movie. It did not matter being in a cinema with more people -I was in the same row just a few seats from them-, because it is seen that they had no other place to do it. And surely you also have your own horror story in a movie theater when it is something that should never happen.
The progress among critics and viewers of the film Smile continues to generate positive reactions. A film that is being celebrated for its novelty and realism, in a horror key. This is the first feature film by director Parker Finn, one that, so far, is becoming one of the relevant novelties of the second quarter of the year and of the genre.
Smile tells the story of a psychologist who, from one moment to another, witnesses strange events after treating a patient. What is the particularity of that person? I saw people smiling. Then, from that professional experience, different issues begin to move on another plane. That detail, the smile, was the basis of a promotional campaign that surprised many people.
One of the most followed sports in the United States is baseball. Currently, the season is in a peak stage, defining the teams that will advance to the next round. Media attention is on the rise and fan attendance is steady. In this framework, as part of the activations to spread the premiere of Smile, a series of actors appeared in different stadiums to surprise the fans and also the spectators.
Through users like the communicator Erik Davis, Twitter was filled for a time with a common image: a person, standing, wearing a garish colored garment, looks towards one of the cameras that transmits the baseball game and smiles. . He smiles like it's the only thing he can do, other than widen his eyes in an intimidating way.
This message was accompanied by another, in which he indicated that an identical activation was also carried out during a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals. The selection of the teams does not seem to be a matter of chance, since the four have a large group of fans and, at present, they experience a good sporting stretch. Davis commented that during the broadcast of the Today Show! An actress was also seen. It is possible that they were not the only places and that the idea was applied in spaces with less communicative resonance.
Judging by the reactions on Twitter, the plan worked. Locals and strangers at the premiere of Smile had a first contact about what the film offers. Paramount's campaign also involves something else within the American context: by bringing cinema closer to baseball, it integrated two of the most marked passions of a part of that society and that, throughout history, have dialogued in a good way. For this reason, there are several film productions that have this discipline as their axis. However, this time, the smiles were not for a victory.
After the great collection achieved last June by Black Phone, the public has once again shown its love for horror movies these days. Smile has become one of the big surprises of the year and has won over a loyal legion of viewers, whose nightmares are already starring some of the creepiest smiles. And more after the tremendous marketing campaign in which Paramount has invested.
In its opening weekend, Smile has garnered a whopping $22 million worldwide. A figure that comes after the fun promotion in the US, where a series of actors sneaked in front of the cameras of some baseball games, where they gave us their most horrifying smiles. One of the most characteristic elements of Parker Finn's film, which has offered us a great performance by actress Sosie Bacon. Although that is not the case.
Paramount also promoted Smile in Spain through a series of encounters with overly smiling characters. A marketing strategy that was also added to the assessment of a 'pain scale' and the reaction of the first viewers who have already enjoyed the film.
In addition, the campaign also moved to the Sydney (Australia) subway, where a group could not erase a happy grin from their faces. A meeting that also moved to some streets and offices near the underground of the city.
The past weekend at the US box office has been quite busy. Smile, the unknown and terrifying film from Paramount, has been a success, raising more than 22 million dollars. It has beaten out Universal's LGBTQ romantic comedy Bros, which came in fourth place with just $4.8 million and became a real commercial flop for the studio. Along with this disaster, we also have Don't worry, dear, the controversial film by Olivia Wilde, which has dropped sharply in its collection. (via Variety).
Smile has managed to be one of the best horror releases of the year, beating Barbarian from 20th Century Studios and its 10 million dollars, as well as The Invitation from Sony, which added 7 million and which we gave a good account of in Vandal. Paramount has known how to release the film at the exact moment, right at the start of October, the ideal moment for this type of production and that will culminate with the arrival of Universal's Halloween Ends.
Why is the premiere of Smile so important despite the fact that its box office numbers don't seem like much when compared to other releases? For the cost of production. Paramount would have barely invested about 17 million in the conception of the film, and for months, would have considered releasing it directly on a streaming service without evaluating its passage through theaters.
The change in strategy, its approach and its viral promotional campaign - with actors smiling disturbingly at different sporting events in the United States - have allowed the film to become known among viewers and succeed in theaters with a minimal investment.
Horror movies have seen a resurgence in recent times. And it is that without a doubt, many are fans of the adrenaline that causes enjoying a good horror movie. Now, many fans of the genre claim that the "scariest movie of 2022" has just been released.
We're talking about Smile, which hit theaters recently and is already causing a stir. The production, written by Parker Finn, tells the story of Dr. Rose Cotter (played by Sosie Bacon), who after suffering a traumatic incident with one of her patients, begins to experience paranormal phenomena.
One of the comments related to the film says: "Smile is one of the scariest movies of the year. All with surprising images, good jump scares, and an uncomfortable feeling throughout the tape."
Since its premiere on the big screen, the horror film Smile has not only captured the attention of audiences around the world in movie theaters, but also on social networks.
And it is that its original but terrifying advertising strategies have led the film to go viral and now it is on everyone's lips. However, this is not the only ingenious thing about the project.
The production has also been praised by critics and horror-loving audiences alike for its plot and outstanding performances. For this reason, here we tell you what you need to know about the film.
