For decades, horror movies have attracted an enthusiastic base of viewers, eager to witness the age-old fight of good vs. evil play out on the big screen.
We’ve all seen this with Ed and Lorraine Warren battling various demons, the Lambert family going up against the evil spirits from Insidious, and the Final Girls of the Scream series combatting unhinged, masked killers.
More often than not, the protagonists ultimately prevail, allowing viewers to leave theaters feeling hopeful. Other times, the good guys suffer a loss in the first film, yet triumph in the sequel that comes next.
Smile, followed by its newly released sequel, Smile 2, completely subverts this. In doing so, it begs the question…why should viewers watch?
The demoralizing message of the Smile universe
In both Smile and Smile 2, the parasitic demonic entity that feeds off human trauma ultimately wins. Despite protagonists Rose Cotter and Joel (from Smile) and Skye Riley (from Smile 2) fighting the good fight, reaching out to loved ones, and even attempting to combat the trauma from their pasts (which the demon feeds upon), none of it matters.
