Perspective (Spoilers Ahead)

Headlined by their marketing campaign of placing actors in the stands right behind the home plate at Major League Baseball games, the newest psychological horror movie, “Smile,” gained national attention before the movie’s release date. Pictures of the actors in the stands went viral on social media, building up more anticipation for the film. The movie first reached theaters on Sept. 30 and has grossed $185,987,230 worldwide at the box office.

While working at a hospital, Dr. Rose Cotter was asked to help a patient going through a mental episode, telling Rose about a figure that follows her around with a terrifying smile. Their conversation took a drastic turn when the patient cut herself with a knife across her face and died, leaving Rose in a state of shock. After the death, Rose became the next victim of the “smile”, described as a demon that overtakes the person’s life, possesses them, and then causes them to commit suicide in a violent manner in front of someone who becomes the demon’s next victim.

The movie fits into the genre of psychological horror, but the ending could have been much better. Ending the movie with the house fire scene could have made it better when the message “Face your fears” was shown, rather than dragging it out and Rose missing countless opportunities to kill herself or someone else.

The plot was strong overall, and while the demon played a large role in the outcome, the true purpose was never fully explained. With all of the issues that Rose dealt with, the following events truly showed that she was disturbed by these events, filling out more of the psychological aspect that the movie expected to have. Rose going to find the first man to have seen it helped clear up some of the confusion but she was unable to find out all of the answers she had about her traumatic experiences.

The audio and visuals were great throughout the movie, setting up the jumpscares perfectly and giving off a creepy vibe when needed. The scene where Rose goes back to her house and is haunted by the spirit of her mother truly showed that she was afraid and reacting based on pure instinct. It was a very well-made movie that certainly lived up to the hype, and even though it wasn’t necessarily one of the greatest horror movies, it was definitely a good watch during this Halloween season.