Smile

Directed by Parker Finn, Smile follows a psychiatrist (Sosie Bacon’s Rose Cotter) as she’s pursued by a demonic force after a patient commits suicide in front of her. It’s clear, ultimately, that Smile fares best in its deliberate yet thoroughly eerie opening stretch, as Finn delivers an atmospheric endeavor that benefits from its stark visuals and smattering of genuinely creepy sequences – including a terrific interlude wherein Rose attempts to solve an issue involving her home alarm system. There’s little doubt, however, that Smile eventually progresses into an underwhelming midsection riddled with hackneyed elements and generic plot developments, with the latter reflected quite keenly in the growing emphasis on Rose’s investigation into the aforementioned demonic force (ie it’s not, for the most part, nearly as engaging as Finn seems to think it is), and it’s clear, as a result, that the movie does begin to demonstrably fizzle out in the buildup to its palpably lackluster finale. (Finn’s attempts at integrating Rose’s past trauma into the horrific happenings generally come off as laughable and painfully derivative.) The final result is a decent-enough endeavor that never quite lives up to the potential of its impressively engaging opening half hour, although, to be fair, the movie does remain quite watchable for the duration of its overlong running time (and this is to say nothing of Bacon’s often spellbinding turn as the tortured central character).

**1/2 out of ****