It was clear to me from the poster advertising for this film that it would hit me in my goolies, as it were. For me, anything that involves distorting faces or masks really freaks me out. So naturally I added 'Smile' (2022) to the top of my watchlist and got to it as soon as I could. I had heard mixed reviews from my peers about whether this movie was any good, but I personally thoroughly enjoyed it (although I couldn't close my eyes to sleep that night).
Starring Sosie Bacon and Caitlin Stasey - who I immediately recongised from my childhood days of watching Neighbours! - this film is, to me, a really interesting look at the hyper-vigilance that comes with enduring traumatic events. The film is written and director by Parker Finn, who despite having a pretty empty iMDb page did a fantastic job on making a really high quality film.
As always, I won't spoil this film for you. There isn't really much to spoil, other than the central premise which you are introduced to very early on because the movie crutches on it. Essentially, the premise of this film is that there is some 'thing' that is passed on through the enduring of traumatic events.
We are introduced to this 'thing' with a horrendous encounter between a therapist and a patient, who the previous week had witnessed her professor committing suicide and had since grown increasingly unstable. During her session, she is possessed by said 'thing' and in turn violently kills herself. The therapist, having witnessed the whole thing, is subsequently haunted by this smiling 'thing'.
Now I know what you're thinking. When I write it down like that I can see that it sounds quite crass, almost silly. In a lot of ways this film is pretty silly, and has the hallmark of your average possession movie. For me, the difference is between this and any other film of its kind is that this film does an incredible job of showcasing the paranoid hyper-vigilance that comes with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
I'm not sure whether this was Parker Finn's intention, but as somebody with experience of PTSD I felt it closely. It seems unrealistic and extreme, but this film portrays the feeling of fear that comes after experiencing trauma so well. Everything is a potential threat. You don't want to look people in the face - here, in case you see that awful smile that signifies your own end-time, but in real-life PTSD because you're unsure whether the people around you are safe or not.
The film is centred around trauma patients, and the 'thing' that is passed on runs directly between traumatised people. To me, it can't be a coincidence that the 'thing' that feeds on trauma is portrayed to represent so closely the gut-wrenching fear of the world around you that real-life PTSD can manifest as. Honestly, I would love to be able to confirm this with the writer and director. Maybe one day, when the blog is big and famous.
Emotionally, I watched this film as an easy-watch horror that I knew would freak me out because it has a scary face in it... I'm a simple creature! But I was truly surprised to see a little snippet of my own experiences reflected back to me in this caricatured way. I tried to explain to my partner that although the film is pretty silly, there is actually a take-away to it that really did hit me quite hard.
So, my parting thoughts to you are this. If you haven't seen this film yet, then enjoy it when you do. But try to see it with a slightly serious head on, because that paranoid fear protrayed by the central character as she awaits her fait is actually quite reflective of some people's real life experiences. These are experiences that very often don't make sense to others not experiencing them, so although the film is clearly not real, I find it interesting that it could have the impact of raising awareness of the impacts of trauma on somebody's everyday perspective. And if you don't fancy that, then just grab a pillow to hide from that horrifically traumatic smile, it really will leave you squirming in your seat.
Until next time,
Alice x
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