Fans have been given the opportunity to watch the opening to Smile 2 for absolutely nothing, but only if they are willing to undergo a creepy challenge.
The film, which is a sequel to the 2022 sleeper hit that impressively made over $200 million off the back of a budget of under $20 million, released last month to incredibly positive reviews.
With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 86% and an IMDb score of 7.2, it also made a huge profit of over $100 million off a production budget of just $28 million so don’t be shocked if you get a Smile 3 in the near future.
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For the meantime though, those not sold on Smile 2 can watch the opening of the film here, per DiscussingFilm.
The creepy twist, however, is that in order to watch, you have to smile for the entire seven minutes.
The app uses facial recognition technology to pause it whenever you stop smiling.
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As creepy as that would be for any given film, those who have seen the Smile films will know this is even creepier than you’d think.
The film’s central concept sees people infected by a curse, in which they are driven mad by illusions of everyone around them with horrific smiles, before eventually driving the host to kill themselves, passing it on to whoever witnesses it.
Holding the smile for seven minutes straight almost feels like you’re cursed by the entity, forced to watch.
For some though, this would be a worthwhile sacrifice based on the outstanding reviews the movie received.
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Rocco T. Thompson of Slant Magazine said in their review of Smile 2’s director Parker Finn: “Parker Finn, like his entity, is interested in getting his bony fingers into those sticky tender parts we’d rather hide away, slurping our pain like ambrosia and confronting us with the fact that more often than not, the enemy staring back is you.”
Meagan Navarro of the horror-focused website Bloody Disgusting said: “It’s not just the sequel’s razor-sharp and inventive, gory scares that surpass its predecessor, but a profoundly complicated heroine shaping the edgier style of horror.”
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter said: "There’s much to be said for a director so unencumbered by timidity, and the sequel will leave plenty of horror fans grinning from ear to ear."
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Christian Zilko of indieWire said: “More than anything, this sequel is proof of the endless versatility that could turn Smile movies into an October box office fixture for decades to come.
Alas if they do, here’s hoping they continue the inventive marketing they’ve become known for.
Smile 2 is in cinemas now.
Topics: Horror, Reviews, TV and Film, Film
Michael Slavin