Imagine sitting on your couch watching your New York Yankees play the Mets. Everything is going great until the camera zooms in on one interesting sight. A creepy man and woman smiling. You may just think that this is some act for attention; instead, this is Paramount’s genius marketing for their new movie: “Smile.” 

This new horror film follows Dr. Rose Cotter, who works as a therapist at a hospital. Cotter soon faces something that changes her forever. Her patient, Laura, claims that an evil being was chasing her. She then slices her neck with a vase, ending her life. After that, Cotter soon experiences this with other patients at the hospital. Thinking she’s being tormented by demonic activity, Cottler looks back at her disturbing past to fix this problem. 

When watching this movie, you will be scared. Coming from someone who doesn’t watch many horror films, my standard is set pretty low. But compared to other horror films, this one blew my expectations out of the water. If you’re a fan of horror movies or just want a scare for Halloween, this movie is perfect. When listening to the general idea of how this movie would be scary, it doesn’t seem scary at all. Sure the smiling effect can be a bit uncomfortable, but in comparison to other horror films, it seems like nothing. However, when watching this movie, it proved me wrong. Its use of a simple smile was enough to make me more than uncomfortable. The sudden moments of people popping out of nowhere smiling really took the horror level up, but my favorite part of the movie was the theme. The theme of smiling through a part of your life really reinforces the idea of mental health and self-care. With the theme intertwined with Cotter’s journey confronting her troubling visions, it really shows how well thought-out this film was. All and all, if you want to watch a movie that exceeds your expectations, “Smile” is the perfect choice.