Smile

Cast View all

	Sosie Bacon	Rose Cotter
	Kyle Gallner	Joel
	Jessie T. Usher	Trevor
	Robin Weigert	Dr. Madeline Northcott
	Caitlin Stasey	Laura Weaver
	Kal Penn	Dr. Morgan Desai
	Rob Morgan	Robert Talley
	Gillian Zinser	Holly
	Judy Reyes	Victoria Munoz
	Levi Sochet	Carl Renken
	Nick Arapoglou	Greg
	Perry Strong	Detective Buckley
	Matthew Lamb	Jackson
	Dora Kiss	Mom
	Meghan Pratt	10 Year Old Rose
	Jared Johnston	Orderly Dan
	Ura Yoana Sánchez	Nurse Wanda
	Vanessa Cozart	Nurse
	Shu Q	Officer Chan
	Shevy Gutierrez	Officer Wilkes
	Sara Kapner	Stephanie
	Steven Strickland	Deputy Sheriff
	Kevin Keppy	Nightmare Mom
	Marti Matulis	The Monstrosity
	Elaine Apruzzese	Psychiatric Patient

Crew View all

Director	Parker Finn
Writer	Parker Finn
Producer	Marty Bowen, Adam Fishbach, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Robert Salerno
Musician	Cristobal Tapia de Veer
Photography	Charlie Sarroff

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Personal

Notes

My quick rating - 6.6/10. Damn, that creepy ass smile. If there’s one thing Parker Finn’s Smile accomplishes, it’s making grins feel about as welcoming as a rusty bear trap. The movie kicks off with psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) witnessing a patient’s traumatic suicide, and from there, her life nosedives into a cycle of paranoia, hallucinations, and that dreadful grin that follows her like an unwanted subscription you forgot to cancel.

What really works here is how relentless the entity is in tormenting Rose. It’s not just the jump scares—it’s the psychological warfare. That birthday party scene? Oh yeah, that one will stick with you. If I were in her shoes, I don’t think my first instinct would be to keep insisting, “I’m fine.” This isn’t the “walk it off” kind of situation. This is more the “call a priest, a therapist, and maybe buy a flamethrower” variety of problem.

Beneath the horror, Parker Finn uses the story as a metaphor for trauma, showing how it infects every aspect of someone’s life and can easily be passed on. The idea isn’t subtle, but it’s effective, and Bacon carries it beautifully. She nails the role of someone unraveling in slow motion, making you believe every crack in her composure.

For a mid-budget flick, the technical side is surprisingly sharp. Charlie Sarroff’s cinematography is slick and unsettling, with camera angles that feel like the floor itself is judging you. The sound design is also spot-on with unnerving tones and just enough distortion to make you wish you’d watched it with the lights on.

Now, gore hounds shouldn’t expect a buffet, but what’s there works. The kills look solid, but this is a movie where the psychological scares and those brutally timed jump scares do the heavy lifting. And credit where it’s due, the jump scares aren’t the cheap kind that make you hate yourself for falling for them. These are the “dammit, they got me” type that earn their keep.

If there’s a knock against Smile, it’s the ending, which feels a little anticlimactic compared to the rollercoaster leading up to it. It doesn’t ruin the experience, but it does leave you wishing the finale had grinned a little wider. Still, between Finn’s confident debut, Sosie Bacon’s gripping performance, and a few scares that will haunt your dreams, Smile gets under your skin in all the right ways.

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