Smile 2 makes up for the original’s viral marketing gimmick
The first Smile was a pretty good horror movie and a pretty big hit. While these two facts are closely linked, the film’s cultural impact was at least due to its incredible marketing campaign that saw people showing up to high-profile events like sports games wearing the series’ signature unnatural grins. It didn’t have much to do with the movie, but it was undeniably effective. Fortunately, the first trailer is for it Smile 2the big-budget sequel to the series, is here to make up for the marketing stunt of the original.
Smile drew mostly on intimate, small-scale fears and the creepy idea that the person you’re talking to could be infected with the Smile Curse without you even knowing it. The main character, Rose (Sosie Bacon), watched the curse spread through the different parts of her life until she finally understood what caused it.
But the marketing campaign had delivered something much bigger and more sinister. That normal(ish) people were grinning at the camera at baseball games implied something enormous, an unknowable infection of sporadic inexplicable violence, accompanied by ear-to-ear smiles and wide, vacant eyes. Fortunately, this is the deep well that the new film seems to be tapping into.
Here’s a nice, clever movie promo – Paramount apparently posted #Smile actors in the crowd at both the Yankees and Mets games last night, both in full view of cameras. The results were eerie indeed. Are you going to a game this weekend? Beware of the smile! pic.twitter.com/aC3sqZjWvI
— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) September 24, 2022
The trailer for the new film mainly follows pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), who appears to be in the middle of a massive national stadium tour – a popular location for horror films this year. Naturally, without any explanation, a smile begins to creep through the audience and its fans, and violence ensues.
It all looks much bigger and more expensive, but with the same methodical slow scares that made the first film so effective. And, most importantly, adding large numbers of people makes the series’ signature grin even more terrifying, making the cursed victims stand out from the crowd, just like they did at the baseball games from the original promotions.
Smile 2 is written and directed by Parker Finn, just like the original film, and will be released in theaters on October 18.