Fans of horror movies can keep on smiling. Last week, director Parker Finn returned to theaters with a sequel to his box-office-breaking thriller Smile. The original enjoyed a brilliant marketing campaign, planting creepy photo bombers behind home plate at nationally televised baseball games—and even in the background of the Today show. The tactic certainly worked: The first film grossed more than $200 million at the box office, with Smile 2 looking to top expectations as well. I can already picture the ear-to-ear grins on the faces of Paramount’s top brass.
In the sequel, pop singer Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is tortured by a smiling curse that forces people to hallucinate until they commit suicide. The film also stars Rosemarie DeWitt (The Staircase) as Skye’s mother, Lukas Gage (You) as Skye’s drug dealer, and Ray Nicholson (Panic) as Skye’s deceased ex-boyfriend. Famously the son of Jack Nicholson, Ray is featured several times throughout the film imitating his father’s patented “Kubrick State.”
With the sequel off to a successful start at the box office, it seems inevitable that Smile will become horror’s next big franchise—meaning that a third installment is likely on the way. To see the fright-filled sensation for yourself, you can rent the first film on most streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Paramount+, and Apple TV+.
Since Smile 2 just premiered on October 18, the only place to catch the sequel is in theaters. By the end of the year, though, we’re willing to bet that the sequel will stream on the platforms above to rent or buy. A few months after its theatrical release, Smile 2 should be available to stream exclusively on Paramount+. By then, we may even find ourselves permanently grinning in our seats for Smile 3 and beyond.
