Dr. Ross Carter gets caught up in a supernatural problem and whether he survives it or not is what ‘Smile’ online is all about.
Parker Finn has directed this “Smile” based on his short film ‘Laura Hasn’t Slept’. Rose Carter (Sosie Bacon) is a psychiatrist. Psychiatric counseling turns his life upside down one day, moving towards his soon-to-be-married. A woman named Laura (Caitlin Stasey) is brought to Rose. The police who bring her in, Laura is an eye-witness in a suicide case. We want to know why the dead professor committed suicide and what happened there. But they say nothing Laura says is believable. Rose talks to Laura slowly.
Laura repeats the same thing she told the police. Even Rose Carter, who hears the incidents, does not believe them. But after an accident, everything Laura said happened to her begins to happen in Rose’s life. At first Rose thinks these are coincidences, but then realizes the danger. Rose learns that everyone who gets caught will commit suicide within seven days at most, and that too with a cruel grin on their face. Things get so out of hand that Rose, a psychiatrist, becomes a psychopath. What’s going on around Rose? Why is it happening? Did he survive this? Isn’t it? That’s all ‘smile’.
Socie Bacon, who plays the main character, Rose Carter, is a perfect match. The character is in a disturbed mood throughout the film. He has realized the nature of the character as he is nervous about the supernatural things happening around him, trying to explain his situation to others and always trembling with fear and conveyed it on the screen. Stacey, who played Laura Waver in the short film, is seen in the same role in ‘Smile’. Also supporting actors are Cece Usher as Rose’s fiancé Trevor, Sincere as sister Holly, Robin Wickert as Rosie’s therapist, and Stacey as Laura.
A terrific setting that has everything a horror film needs, director Parker Finn has done everything he can with the story without missing a beat. The film’s jump scare moments, twists in every scene are designed in such a way that we cannot guess. Despite being a thriller, the scenes where Rosie’s character goes to find out why this is happening to her are set up like an investigation film.
‘Laura Hasn’t Slept’ is a short film based entirely on Laura. Pay Off is a great way to break new ground when turning it into a movie and include the character of Laura. Charlie’s cinematography gives the film a mysterious feel. Cinematographer Elliott is also to be commended for summarizing it perfectly. Cristobal mainly enhances the sense of thrill of the film with his background score.
The shortcoming of the film is that the scenes of Rosie’s character searching for the reason for the things that happen to her, and what she does after knowing it, are not very appropriate. Also bringing a psychological angle into the film is an incident from Rosie’s childhood. When you expect the film to end interestingly, the story comes back to the same place where it started with a twist. So we don’t get a complete sense of the film. Despite some flaws like this, the film is a great experience for fans who love a pure horror genre film.
Due to the extreme violence and blood in the film, it is strictly for adults only. Watch the film with this in mind.
– Pa. Johnson