Having earned over $200 million at the global box office, writer/director Parker Finn’s horror film Smile has now been given a digital release and is also available to watch on the Paramount+ streaming service in the US and Canada. With a new stage of release comes a new piece of promotion, as Paramount has unveiled a featurette that looks into the casting of Sosie Bacon (Charlie Says) as the film’s heroine. That featurette, which has a running time just under 2 minutes, can be seen at the bottom of this article.
Smile is based on Finn’s short film Laura Hasn’t Slept, which won the Special Jury Recognition Prize in SXSW’s Midnight Short category. Caitlin Stasey (Neighbours) played the title character in that short, and it seems like she might be reprising the role in Smile (briefly, judging by the marketing), making this a follow-up of sorts.
Smile has the following synopsis:
After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.
Stasey and Bacon are joined in the cast by Kal Penn (the Harold & Kumar movies), Kyle Gallner (Red State), Jessie T. Usher (The Boys), Rob Morgan (Mudbound), Judy Reyes (Scrubs), and Gillian Zinser (90210).
Smile was produced by Temple Hill, with Nathan Samdahl and Natalia Maymi overseeing the project for Paramount Players. In another featurette, Parker Finn promised that nothing can prepare you for what’s going to happen in his movie, which he wanted to feel “like an escalating nightmare”.
Our own JimmyO gave Smile a 7/10 review that you can read at THIS LINK. I haven’t watched the movie yet myself, but now that it’s streaming I will be watching it very soon. Have you seen Smile? If so, let us know what you thought of it by leaving a comment below.
Smile will be reaching most Paramount+ markets outside the US and Canada sometime in 2023.