Smile - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Smile



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
As you can judge by the picture, Smile is not a film that’s going to “put a smile on your face” if you know what I mean. The creepy film is based off of a short story title “Laura hasn’t Slept” revolving around a woman who sees a patient commit suicide in front of her, only to be possessed by an entity that that jumps from one victim to the other, forcing them to do things that they would never otherwise do. Luckily the film and the short story are both penned and directed by Parker Finn, allowing the short story to come alive (a bit of an ironic choice of words there) in a way that stays very true to the initial source.

The film opens up with emergency trauma Psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Sossie Bacon) receiving a brand new inpatient in the form of Laura (Caitlin Stasey), a young Ph.D candidate who happens to be seeing and hearing things. Things that can only be described as self harming and OBVIOUSLY delusional. However, the things that she’s seeing are far from a fantasy cooked up in a mentally ill head. Poor Laura tries to get Rose to understand that she’s not crazy, but not before the entity takes her over and causes the young woman to commit suicide in front or Rose by slicing her own throat with a shard of pottery.

Now this is all seen through the eyes of the viewer, but to Rose it just looks like a mentally disturbed girl offed herself in front of the good doctor. Going home and trying to unwind with a glass of wine, Rose soon starts hearing and seeing things that make her start to reconsider her own diagnosis of the dead woman. Bit by bit her sanity erodes as visions of a strange entity masking itself as another person haunt her until there seems to be a point where Rose can’t even hold on to whatever sliver of humanity and sanity she has left.

On the surface it seems like a novel approach. A twisted smile covers the face of a demonic seeming entity that haunts the poor woman. Under the surface is a much more rote and traditional horror story. Just one that makes corollaries to mental health issues, possible demonic possession, and wraps it up with a fairly obvious twist at the end that leaves you more than a bit creeped out. Is it fantastic? Nah, I don’t think so, but I have rarely been so genuinely creeped out by a jump scare horror film as I have with Smile. The “demon” (whether that be real or an allegory for the “demon” of mental illness) is truly creepy, being able to shift from one to face to another and leaving Rose without any sense of hope whatsoever. I woke up the very next day from watching Smile remembering what I had watched the night before and shivering ever so slightly. I don’t know what it is really, but the film has drawn me back 2-3x since I saw it in theaters, and every time I have truly been creeped out and affected by what seems like a typical jump scare movie.

Parker Finn really does dance a fine line between “is this real? Or this mental illness?” the entire time (even the ending doesn’t really let you know). He plays with themes of mental health playing an affect on rose, and there’s just enough ambiguity about the entity itself that leaves you wondering just what is real, and what is in Rose’s head. Or maybe it became real IN Rose’s head, there’s no way to be sure. Either way, this tactic keeps the audience guessing on who is the real victim and villain here, and by the time the film wrapped up I really didn’t care. The mystery of the whole thing adds to the charm of what would otherwise be a generic evil spirit movie.




Rating:

Rated R for strong violent content and grisly images, and language.





4K Video: Video:

The single disc 4K UHD release looks fantastic in 2160p, giving us a very flat and digital appearance, with amazing detail levels amidst a heavy blue/green color grading applied to the whole image. This is not going to be an amazing stunner of an image due to the obvious grading and flat look, but detail levels are there in spades, and the contrast looks amazing. Black levels are superb, and rather paramount as we spend a lot of the time inside of a dimly lit home with Rose hunched over a computer, or in a dark cabin where she spent her formative years. Outdoor shots at the hospital give a muted, but still brighter image that is more neutral in color and tone. The Dolby Vision color grading adds plenty of pop and pizazz to it, making a bright blue short, or a dark splatter of blood really stand out. I can’t see any major arftifacting outside of the fact that some skin tones look a bit gray, and there’s a few soft scenes here and there. Otherwise really good looking transfer.








Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track pleases just as much, giving us a fairly robust and aggressive sound mix. There’s not a whole lot of unique surround effects or discrete additions to the heights, but the ambiance is really atmospheric and moody thanks to the creepy score. Surrounds pulsate with the music, and there’s even some moderate activity in the overheads with some creaking boards and the music bleeding through. Bass is really punchy and powerful, adding tons of thump to the jump scares, and adding a thick heavy under layer to the score itself. Highly recommended part of the disc.












Extras:

• Audio Commentary by director Parker Finn
• Laura Hasn't Slept — The original short film that inspired SMILE with introduction by director Parker Finn
• Something's Wrong with Rose: Making Smile - Featurette
• Flies on the Wall: Inside the Score - Featurette
• Deleted Scenes — With optional commentary by director Parker Finn

Final Score: ​

Smile is a refreshingly fun watch. I had a blast with the film and was shocked at how much I was reacting to the jump scares. Finn does a good job with the buildup, but personally I find that the last act is a bit TOO obvious and cookie cutter. The twist is seen a mile away and done a million times, but that being said, was still well crafted enough to satisfy. With this being the 4th out of 5 films in the Paramount Scares: Vol 1 set, I did notice that it also doesn’t have a Blu-ray in the set to make it combo pack, much like the regular release about a year ago. Fun watch, very good looking 4K disc, and some moderately decent extras. Thumbs up.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Robin Weigert, Kal Penn
Directed by: Parker Finn
Written by: Parker FInn
Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), German, French, Spanish, French (Canadian), Italian, Japanese DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, Turkish
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Rated: R
Runtime: 115 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: October 24th, 2023

Recommendation: Great Watch.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I enjoyed this film - particularly thought the ending was good. Creepy as all get out - great sound design!