Smile (2022) is a new psychological horror movie based on the 2020 short film Laura Hasn’t Slept. Our test subject made it through all three of her kids’ birthday parties in October with no sleep as well. Smile created a buzz in the horror community with a creepy trailer and shocking promotional stunts. Read on to find out if this chilling smile created enough scares to wake up Leah’s heart.
SYNOPSIS:
After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter 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.
Where to Watch: In Theaters
Test Subject: Leah
Age: 40
Gender: Female
Fears: Visiosubrideophobia or Fear of Smiling Faces
Resting HR: 60-65bpm
Walking HR: 80-85bpm
ANALYSIS:
The film welcomed our subject in with an eerie soundtrack and an unsettling opening. She began to show signs of agitation which led to a 77bpm spike during an intense and gory moment. Haunting images were evenly spaced throughout the first act which had our subject reaching for a blanket to cover her eyes. Half way through the film, it delivered mild tension, a bit of humor and the occasional jump scare. However, there was not much of a build up to these sudden scares. In fact, the filmmakers set them up in a way that tricked our subject into falling for them. Dull, ordinary moments calmed her heart rate and then jumps came out of nowhere. This produced a jolt but did not contain a terrifying build to sustain a high heart rate for an extended time.
One clever surprise at 45:00 was purrrr-fect and created an uncomfortable climb to 78bpm. But after a while, repetitive scenes became less effective as the scares became more predictable. A long third act of research where our subject actually dipped below her resting rate eventually led to one impressive peak of 81bpm. This ended up being her highest heart rate of the film. Our subject made it through but was not impressed by the CG finale.
CONCLUSION:
Smile (2022) follows a woman on a downward spiral into insanity. The film contains enough creepy jumps to pull our subject through the slower scenes but the repetitive use of dream sequences became less effective as the film dragged on. Click To Tweet Brief scary scenes stitched together by a weak plot failed to sustain a high heart rate. More time than necessary was focused on our lead actor trying to prove she wasn’t insane, but in the end our subject didn’t care. And even though she didn’t initially find the smiles all that scary, our subject felt more anxiety after the film was over. The unnerving faces lingered, leaving her frowning as she finally crawled into bed for some rest.
Smile (2022): Burns an average of 167 Calories
Smiley Fries: 160 Calories
How many Fear Calories did you burn watching Smile (2022) ? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook
