Parker Finn directs Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt and Lukas Gage in this horror sequel where the smiling curse moves onto a pop star just as she is about to embark on a gruelling comeback tour.

Again, more a chiller than a horror with massive debts to Repulsion and J-Horror. The backstage of a world tour setting adds pageantry and pizazz. Naomi Scott heavy lifts for the bulk of the movie. She convinces as a world famous singing sensation, a mentally fragile diva and a doomed doll in a demon’s psychological toy box. Bloody and grinding in equal measure my only real beef with the ambitious but mainstream Smile movies is they stretch a nippy Twilight Zone hour over twice the runtime. They play like emotional marathons. Intentional maybe, but this is going to restrain me from rewatching regularly.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Malignant (2021)

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