On September 30, 2022, just before halloween season, Smile was released to theaters with astounding appraisal. Sosie Bacon stars as Dr. Rose Cotter in this thrilling and terrifying film, garnering attention from fans who are calling it: “the scariest movie of the year.”

After witnessing the death of one of her patients, Dr. Rose Cotter starts to experience incredibly disturbing instances of smiling individuals. Cotter puts this down to a supernatural force, and works to discover how to stop it, leading to an epic conclusion.

“It feels like people are surprised at the depth of it, because maybe they were expecting more of a total jump scare thing,” Bacon said in her interview with Variety. “I think people are appreciating it for the real, grounded filmmaking.”

Smile is directed and written by Parker Finn, and the production of the movie was done by Paramount Pictures. His debut film has gained an astounding amount of public attention, due to the near two hour film’s thorough plot, and jump scares. Finn is the writer of the original short film, Laura Hasn’t Slept, which is behind the big-screen adaptation.

“It’s interesting when you’re a filmmaker who’s independently making short films, you are sort of just the torch bearer for everything,” Finn said. “When you’re making a feature, especially with a studio like Paramount, you’re entering a machine and navigating that is very interesting as a first-time filmmaker.”

When asked about the inclusion of the smile in the film by Drew Taylor of The Wrap, Finn responded.

“I love the inherent contradiction between a smile and this sense of palpable evil,” Finn said. “I wanted the movie to feel sort of gleefully evil and I’m hoping that’s what people will get out of it.”

As a non-typical horror movie goer, Smile was a pleasant surprise. The suspense, music, andscares, were all done perfectly. I’m ashamed to say that this is the first horror movie to have ever scared me, given I haven’t seen that many. The plot was a bit all over the place, having some holes that desperately needed to be fixed, regardless, the storyline was great. The film had me on the edge of my seat, right until the ending, that could possibly lead to a sequel. However, I think this movie leaves off on a great note, and it is best for the film to not be touched again. I am excited to see what Parker Finn does next in his directing and writing career.

Smile has made over 100M dollars and currently holds a 78% on rotten tomatoes, a 6.9/10 on IMDb, and is liked by 85% of google users. Personally, I give it a 7.9/10.

Smile (2022) is expected to come to Paramount Plus in the next coming months.