‘Smile’ Review: Procedural Horror That Makes Trauma The Antagonist

EXCLUSIVE: Dark Sky Films has acquired North American distribution rights to Mother, May I?, the psychological thriller starring Kyle Gallner (Smile) and Holland Roden (Teen Wolf). 

Mike Wass With global box office receipts already exceeding $100 million, “Smile” is the breakout horror hit of 2022. And while pundits largely put the film’s success down to Parker Finn’s spooky premise and a razor-sharp marketing campaign, its secret sauce is arguably Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s inventive score. Built around an obscure instrument that mimics human growls and groans, the otherworldly soundscape adds a layer of dread to “Smile” that lingers long after the credits roll. “Besides being the creepiest score of the year, Parker wanted it to be original,” Tapia de Veer says of the director’s original brief. To achieve that formidable goal, the Chilean-born composer knew that he had to sidestep the genre’s obsession with synthesizers. “In the last few years, there has been an obsession with retro sounds from the ’80s,” he says. “It’s very hard to plug in a synthesizer and not sound like John Carpenter when you start doing creepy things.”

Paramount Pictures has announced that 80 for Brady, its upcoming film starring seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and others, will open wide on February 3.

Paramount’s Parker Finn-directed horror pic Smile has laughed its way across the $100M mark globally. And it did so in under two weeks of release. Through Tuesday, the gross is $102.3M worldwide, made up of $55.5M domestic and $46.8M from the international box office. 

Dua Lipa has expressed support for the women of Iran following protests in the nation. The Levitating singer took to Instagram on Saturday to bring attention to the demonstrations, which have been staged to highlight the death of Mahsa Amini. Last month, the 22-year-old passed away in a hospital in Tehran under suspicious circumstances.

Paramount’s Smile is positively grinning ear-to-ear as the horror pic from director Parker Finn saw a wild 19% upswing in holdovers at the international box office in its second frame. The weekend gross was $17.5M in 61 markets for a $40M offshore cume and $89.9M global to date.

Smile has received rave first reactions on social media from fans.Written and directed by debut filmmaker Parker Finn, Smile follows Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), who, after witnessing a traumatic incident involving a patient, starts to experience terrifying and inexplainable occurrences.Alongside Bacon, the cast also includes The Boys star Jessie T.

It was a varied offering at the international box office this weekend with newcomers from Hollywood and offshore markets, as well as notable holds, as we inch closer to full-on action later in October. 

Smile,” despite its sunshine-y name, is currently scaring the hell out of America.The original Paramount horror movie debuted at #1 at the box office this weekend. And for good reason – it’s really scary! “Smile,” from writer/director Parker Finn, follows a young doctor named Rose (Sosie Bacon), who uncovers an insidious curse after one of her patients murders herself in front of Rose.“Smile” recently had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest, an international film festival in Austin, Texas that specializes in genre movies. Known for its raucous crowds, Bacon told TheWrap what that first screening was like.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Paramount’s “Smile” debuted to a sizzling $22 million, easily topping the domestic box office. The horror film beat out the weekend’s other new wide release, Universal’s LGBTQ romantic comedy “Bros,” which landed in fourth with a paltry $4.8 million debut. “Smile” ranks as one of the better original horror debuts of the year, beating out 20th Century Studios’ “Barbarian” ($10 million) and Sony’s “The Invitation” ($7 million). As the box office enters October, the horror genre will continue to take center stage with Universal’s “Halloween Ends” releasing in two weeks and hoping to cash in on the excitement for thrills and chills. The box office result for “Smile” is a frighteningly good haul, seeing as it cost Paramount a measly $17 million to produce. The company used some clever marketing tactics this week by strategically placing paid actors, with huge, creepy smiles plastered on their faces, behind home plate during televised Major League Baseball games. Social media users quickly noticed the unsettling fans, who wore “Smile” t-shirts, when the cameras zoomed in on batters stepping up to the plate.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The feature film debut from writer and director Parker Finn was called a film with a “highly effective creep factor,” by Variety.It is predicted to be grinning all the way to a $19 million dollar opening weekend,” according to Deadline.Moving down a notch to second place from the top slot last week was “Don’t Worry Darling,” with $2.4 million in sales. The firm, which cost $35 million to make, according to Forbes, has netted $27.9 million domestically and $11 million internationally.Directed by Olivia Wilde, the 1950s-set thriller was “mid to poorly reviewed,” and is forecast to bring in just $7.2 million on its second weekend in theaters, according to Collider.

“Smile” is here.The new horror film from Paramount Pictures concerns a young doctor (Sosie Bacon) who, after a patient kills themselves in front of her, uncovers a vast and bizarre mystery involving a demonic curse that causes some very unsettling smiles. It’s a terrific little horror movie, full of genuinely scary moments and indelible images. If you head to a theater this weekend to watch, you will undoubtedly be surrounded by screaming viewers (yourself probably included).“Smile” had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest, an international film festival in Austin, Texas, known for its commitment to cutting-edge genre cinema.

J. Kim Murphy “Smile” has something grin about this weekend. The creeper is projected to land a $19 million debut from 3,645 locations. It’s a fantastic start for the genre film, which carries a modest $17 million production budget. Compared to other original horror entries this year, Universal’s supernatural kidnap thriller “The Black Phone” kicked off with $23 million while 20th Century Studios’ “Barbarian” opened to $10 million. “Smile” landed a mildly positive “B-” grade through research firm Cinema Score, though such a figure is standard for a horror release. The film has drawn good buzz with solid reviews, scoring a 79% from top critics on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. Variety‘s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman praised the film in his review, writing that it “sets up nearly everything — its highly effective creep factor, its well-executed if familiar shock tactics, its interlaced theme of trauma and suicide — before the opening credits.”

“Smile” is opening on the upper end of pre-release independent projections with $8.2 million earned on Friday from 3,645 locations and an estimated $19 million opening, which would be the third straight weekend that a No. 1 film has earned that amount.

“Smile,” which stars Sosie Bacon and Kyle Gallner and just had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin before opening this Friday (September 30), is super creepy and unsettling.But how do you watch the new movie? Read on to find out:“Smile” is, at present, exclusively playing in movie theaters. This is honestly probably a good thing, as its effectiveness is directly related to the amount of teenagers screaming and throwing their popcorn around you. This is a real matinee-at-the-mall movie, in the best possible way.Paramount+ is pretty slippery when it comes to when its movies are hitting the service.

“Smile” is ready to give you the willies.The new original horror film, from first-time writer/director Parker Finn, is here just in time for spooky season and it doesn’t disappoint – this thing is scary, disturbing and, yes, downright haunting. It follows Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), whose patient kills herself in front of Rose while wearing a ghastly smile on her face.

It doesn’t happen too often, especially from modern studio fare, but Parker Finn’s “Smile” is the kind of horror movie that earns the unique qualification of “genuinely scary.” Credit to Finn, the writer/director making his feature debut here, for achieving this with a strong and simple visual hook: possessed characters who smile, a sign to the witness that something is about to go horrifically wrong. It’s always creepy when actors here suddenly force a wide grin onto their faces, gradually baring their full teeth and pointing their eyes in a fashion that would barely be welcoming in a photo.

Paramount’s horror movie Smile struck up $2M in Thursday night previews that started at 7 p.m., a figure that’s just above M. Night Shyamalan’s Old from summer 2021, which did $1.5M in its previews, and just under Universal/Blumhouse’s Black Phone Thursday previews which were $3M in June.