Smile 2 * * * ½

Three and a half stars from hard marking Phil, that's something to smile about.

 Like the first Smile, this is a bit of fun if you're into horror.  

For those that watched the first Smile it concluded with the cop realising he's got "The Smile" and there is only one way to get rid of it. So we see him again in the opening scene, but things go more than a bit wrong.  Goodbye to him and goodbye to Smile 1.

After transferring the curse to Smile 2 we see who it's affecting. First a drug dealer and then on to a very famous pop singer Skye Riley, and boy does it have an impact on her life!   She's already a traumatised mess emerging from drug addiction and the car accident death of her boyfriend, which she feels responsible for.

Some say it's scarier than the first Smile. Director Parker Finn has certainly upped the splatter etc, but as we kind of know what's going on I didn't think it was as frightening or as intriguing.  But there is plenty of jump scares and blood.  

The best scene is the DIY operation but not I'm sure if she dreamt that. Frequently the timeline isn't making sense; but I guess you can get away with fractured story telling if you show us something and then tell us it was all a dream or an hallucination.

I found the ending disappointing.  I'm a bit over all this mutation stuff, and things coming out of people: they all look like a video game. I'm thinking of Suspiria, Men, Alien Romulus, The Substance and others.

The acting is good, especially Naomi Scott in the main role as Pop Star Skye Riley whose behaviour is  like a selfish, drug dependent, egocentric bitch, but she could also be seen a a poor young girl under a demonic siege.  Another great performance is Peter Jacobson as Morris, the guy who has the remedy to make it all go away - and what a disturbing remedy it is!