Smile Releases One Freaky Final Trailer

The horror movie Smile has released its final trailer before it hits theaters this week. This latest trailer for Smile comes with the added boast of having some sterling critical reviews – including one from ComicBook.com’s Chris Killian, who called the film “Deliciously Creepy” in his review. Smile stars Sosie Bacon (Narcos: Mexico, Mare of Easttown), Jessie T. Usher (The Boys), Kyle Gallner (Scream 2022), Caitlin Stasey (APB, Bridge and Tunnel), Robin Weigert (American Horror Story, Deadwood), Judy Reyes (Scrubs), Rob Morgan (Stranger Things), and Kal Penn (Harold & Kumar) and is the debut of writer/director Parker Finn. You can get the official synopsis, below: 

After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Bacon)  starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.

Smile has come out of virtually nowhere to generate some big buzz, based solely on the strength of its marketing campaign. The film’s main hook is some kind of evil entity that turns people into bizarrely-grinning demonic versions of themselves. Shots of actors suddenly flashing creepy smiles has been an effective marketing tool across all platforms: the TV and Internet trailers have certainly given people significant pause; social media campaigns of been able to achieve the viral effect of having ads that fool people with normal-looking faces that suddenly go freaky as you scroll by – all generating the question: what movie is this? 

While the cast may not be automatic draws, Smile is full of up-and-coming talent. Sosie Bacon (daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick) is certainly ready for a spotlight, Usher is a star thanks to The Boys, and the rest of the cast are a mix of veterans like Penn, Reyes, and Weigert, or proven newer talent like Gallner and Stasey. Horror has also proven to still have box office pull as a genre; another little-known horror film release from a debut filmmaker (Barbarian) opened at the top of the US box office in early September. Smile could close out the month with similar success.

If you want to get in the fun of Smile’s marketing campaign, Paramount is offering a fun promotion leading into release day: 

“The evil grin from SMILE is taking over Craiyon, the AI model that can draw images from any text prompt, in its first-ever brand integration. Visit www.craiyon.com to generate some creepy smiles which began today September 26, and will take over the site homepage for the next couple days. (You will see the “click for Smiles” button on the homepage to run through it!)”

Smile will be in theaters on Friday, with previews starting on Thursday night.