Rosemarie DeWitt Archives

Review: “Smile 2,’ starring Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Dylan Gelula and Ray Nicholson

October 16, 2024

by Carla Hay

Naomi Scott in “Smile 2” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

Directed by Parker Finn

Culture Representation: Taking place in mostly in the New York City area, the horror film “Smile 2” (a sequel to 2022’s “Smile”) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some Latin people, Asian people and African Americans) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Pop music superstar Skye Riley, who is about to start a comeback tour after recovering from a tragic car accident, becomes haunted by a demon that causes her to have nightmarish hallucinations that people are giving her sinister smiles.

Culture Audience: “Smile” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the first “Smile” movie and stylish horror films that are effective in being creepy and gruesome.

As flashy as it is gory, Smile 2 is a rare sequel that’s better than the original movie. Naomi Scott gives an impressive performance as a pop diva haunted by a sinister demon spirit. This movie improves from 2022’s “Smile” in almost every way, although it would help if viewers say the first “Smile” movie to understand many of the scenes in “Smile 2,” especially the opening scene.

Parker Finn wrote and directed “Smile” and “Smile 2.” Instead of copying its predecessor, “Smile 2” goes further in character development, production design, visual effects, cinematography and the movie’s overall story. The “Smile” movies are about a demon spirit that gets passed on to a different person after that person goes insane within a week (including hallucinating that people have sinister smiles), and the possessed person commits suicide while smiling, which is the demon’s intention. The demon then possesses the person who was the last one to see the dead person alive in the same room, even if the possessed person dies from something other than suicide.

The first “Smile” movie (which takes place in New Jersey) was mainly about solving the mystery behind these mysterious deaths. A police detective named Joel (played by Kyle Gallner) was investigating. Mild spoiler alert: By the end of “Smile,” Joel became possessed by the demon. This is necessary information to understand the full context of the opening scene of “Smile 2.”

“Smile 2” (which takes mostly in the New York City area) begins six days after the events at the end of the first “Smile” movie. Joel is desperate to find someone who will become posssessed by the demon because Joel knows that he will die soon. He has chosen a ruthless drug dealer/murderer named Yev (played by Roberts Jekabsons), who lives and works with his brother Alexi (played by Zebedee Row). Wearing a hooded mask and armed with a gun, Joel goes to the criminals’ house and does a home invasion that goes horribly wrong.

There’s a shootout that leaves both brothers dead (the demon can only possess people who are alive) in the living room area. Joel is wounded in one of his shoulders. Just as he is about to leave, a drug dealer who buys from Alexi and Yev suddenly appears and startles Joel. The other drug dealer is named Lewis Fregoli (played by Lukas Gage), who understandably gets freaked out by this crime scene that he sees in this room.

Some colleagues of Yev and Alexi also show up shortly afterward. These cohorts see Joel and the bloodbath inside the house, but Joel is in another room. Another shootout ensues, but Joel escapes into the street outside, only to be hit by a car. Lewis was the last person to see Joel alive in the same room. And you know what that means.

“Smile 2” then introduces viewers to the movie’s main character: a pop music superstar named Skye Riley (played by Naomi Scott), who is on the verge of starting a comeback tour. Skye has an image and style that is very similar to Lady Gaga. During a talk show interview on “The Drew Barrymore Show” (Barrymore portrays herself in this cameo role in “Smile 2”), it’s mentioned that this is the first interview that Skye has done since she was in a car accident the previous year. The car crash killed her actor boyfriend Paul Hudson (played by Ray Nicholson), who was driving the car. Skye was the only passenger.

A toxicology report determined that Paul and Skye both had intoxication levels of cocaine and alcohol in their systems at the time of the accident. Skye’s interview on “The Drew Barrymore Show” is a way to redeem herself, promote her upcoming comeback tour, and introduce her new hairstyle. At the time the accident happened, Skye had long black hair. Now, she has a short blonde hairstyle. In some scenes in the movie, it’s shown that Skye has a nervous tic of pulling out strands of her hair when she’s feeling stress or anxiety.

In “The Drew Barrymore Show” interview, Skye admits that she was abusing drugs and alcohol during the period of time when the car accident happened. Skye says that she’s been to rehab and is now clean and sober. She also makes public apologies to her fans, her family and her business team. Skye noticeably leaves out any apologies to Paul’s loved ones. (Paul is prominently featured in marketing materials for “Smile 2,” but he’s not in the movie as much as those marketing materials suggest. Ray Nicholson, a son of Jack Nicholson, will remind some people of Jack Nicholson’s performance in the 1980 horror film “The Shining” in how Ray Nicholson does Paul’s creepy smile.)

The car accident left Skye with long scars on her front torso and on her back. She is very self-conscious about these scars and is still suffering from back pain. Due to her history of substance addiction, Skye cannot get a drug prescription for the pain. And so, out of desperation, Skye secretly goes to the home of her former drug dealer Lewis (who is also her former classmate from high school) to illegally buy Vicodin, after she gets a message from Lewis on her phone.

When Skye arrives at Lewis’ place, she sees him very strung-out on cocaine and babbling about how he’s seeing strange visions. Lewis also tells Skye that whatever is haunting him is in the same room with them. The trailer for “Smile 2” already reveals that Lewis commits suicide in front of Skye by bashing his own head in with a cylinder block from a weightlift. And because Skye was the last person to see Lewis alive in the same room, you know what that means.

The rest of “Smile 2” shows what happens as Skye begins to mentally unravel. With the wrong screenplay, sloppy direction or an untalented cast, “Smile 2” could have been very tedious and badly performed. However, this movie maintains its suspense throughout with good acting and has some truly impactful and memorable scenes that might be too unsettling for sensitive viewers. Some of Skye’s nightmares include flashback memories to what happened in the moments right before the car crash that killed Paul.

In addition to Scott’s standout performance, “Smile 2” has solid performances from supporting characters who are close to Skye. They include her caring and ambitious mother/manager Elizabeth Riley (played by Rosemarie DeWitt); Skye’s sardonic best friend Gemma (played by Dylan Gelula), who reconciles with Skye after they were estranged; Skye’s loyal personal assistant Joshua (played by Miles Gutierrez-Riley); and a record company executive named Darius Bravo (played by Raúl Castillo), who works with Skye and greatly admires her.

The scenes depicting the music industry and concert performances are very realistic. Scott (as Skye) performs some original songs in “Smile 2,” including “New Brain,” “Grieved You,” “Just My Name” and “Blood on White Satin.” At a meet-and-greet backstage with fans, Skye has an encounter with a creep named Alfredo (played by Ivan Carlo), who has to be escorted out by security when he gets too aggressive with Skye. It won’t be the last time that Skye sees Alfredo.

Later in the movie, Skye meets a stranger named Morris (played by Peter Jacobson), who says he’s an emergency room nurse with an idea to help her. This is the most awkward part of the movie because Skye meets Morris at a diner after he randomly texted her messages indicating that he knows her secret. Morris says his brother died of the same curse that he knows that Skye has. He suggests a radical solution to get rid of the demon.

“Smile 2” has enough to satisfy fans of the first “Smile” and win over fans who are new to the “Smile” franchise. There are a few parts of the movie that become repetitive in hammering home the point that Skye is having these terrible hallucinations. What’s realistic is that Skye is not a completely sympathetic character and is prone to having diva tantrums. Even though the odds are stacked against Skye for her to survive the curse, “Smile 2” does a skillful job of keeping viewers guessing about what will happen until the visually stunning last 15 minutes of the movie.

Paramount Pictures will release “Smile 2” in U.S. cinemas on October 18, 2024.

Review: ‘Wyrm,’ starring Theo Taplitz, Lulu Wilson, Sosie Bacon, Natasha Rothwell, Paula Pell, Azure Brandi and Tommy Dewey

January 15, 2023

by Carla Hay

“Wyrm”

Directed by Christopher Winterbauer

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed U.S. city in the mid-1990s, the comedy film “Wyrm” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans, Latinos and Asians) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: In an alternate reality where people have to wear electronic collars until they get their first romantic kiss, a nerdy freshman in high school tries to get rid of the stigma of being the only person in his school who’s still wearing this collar.

Culture Audience: “Wyrm” will appeal primarily to people are interested in watching quirky coming-of-age comedies.

Azure Brandi, Dan Bakkedahl, Theo Taplitz, Natalia Abelleyra and Tommy Dewey in “Wyrm” (Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)

Amid the overabundance of comedies about nerdy teenage guys who want to be more sexually experienced, “Wyrm” is memorable for its unique story and quirky characters. This movie doesn’t try to have broad appeal because it’s for people who are interested in low-budget, independent films about eccentrics. The comedy in “Wyrm” is also mixed with a touching story about grief and how people choose to remember the deceased.

“Wyrm” (pronounced “worm”) is the feature-film debut of writer/director Christopher Winterbauer, who based the movie on his 2017 short film “Wyrm.” The feature film “Wyrm” (which takes place in an unnamed U.S. city) had its world premiere at the 2019 edition of Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, but the movie wasn’t released until 2022. Most of the comedy is deadpan and almost satirical, so don’t expect the typical formula of teen comedies where a geeky male outcast is trying to date his “dream girl.”

According to the “Wyrm” production notes, the movie is set in an “alternate reality” in the mid-1990s. It’s a reality where people’s sexuality is monitored in terms of levels. To reach Level One sexuality, someone must experience a romantic kiss. People have to wear an electronic collar that can’t come off until they reach Level One sexuality.

Wyrm Whitner (played by Theo Taplitz), who’s about 14 years old, is a freshman in high school with his twin sister Myrcella (played by Azure Brandi), who has a prickly relationship with Wyrm. Wyrm and Myrcella had an older brother named Dylan (played by Lukas Gage, shown briefly in flashbacks), who died in a car accident when Dylan was about 16 or 17. Dylan has been dead for less than a year.

Wyrm and Myrcella’s parents are emotionally absent. Their father Allen (played by Dan Bakkedahl) spends most of his time either at work or in the parents’ bedroom. Wyrm’s mother Margie (played by Rosemarie DeWitt) is on a trail hiking trip for an undetermined period of time. (Paula Pell has a cameo as a park ranger named Tanya.) Although there isn’t much information about the Whitner family dynamics before Dylan died, it’s implied that these parents are avoiding spending time with Wyrm and Myrcella because it’s the parents’ way of grieving.

For now, Myrcella and Wyrm are essentially being raised by their bachelor uncle Chet (played by Tommy Dewey), who met his current girlfriend Flor (played by Natalia Abelleyra) in an Internet chat room. In an early scene in the movie, Chet tells Wyrm: “I just think with the right girlfriend, you’d really be happy.” Chet also paints a portrait of Wyrm.

Wyrm has become preoccupied with interviewing people on his portable tape recorder about their memories of Dylan and about their thoughts on romantic relationships. Experiencing his first romantic kiss (preferably from his first girlfriend) soon becomes another preoccupation for Wyrm. He’s getting pressure to have his collar “popped” (unlocked) for various reasons.

When Wyrm and Myrcella entered high school, they both had Level One sexuality collars. However, Myrcella has recently had her collar “popped” because she’s been dating a Norwegian immigrant student at the school named Mads Nillson (played by Ky Baldwin), who was Myrcella’s first romantic kiss. Wyrm is now the only person at the school who has a Level One sexuality collar.

An early scene in “Wyrm” shows what type of comedy that the movie has about teen sexuality. Wyrm’s friend/classmate Charley (played by Samuel Faraci) tells Wyrm: “Mads Nillson fingered your sister at the cinema yesterday.” Charley then asks Wyrm if Wyrm feels the same things at the same time as Marcella does because they’re twins. Wyrm says about twin telepathy, “I think that’s only [with] identical twins.”

Wyrm and Myrcella, who share the same room, soon clash over how her level of sexual experience will now affect their living situation. Myrcella reads to Wyrm a formal declaration of why she wants to move into Dylan’s former room so that she can have more privacy. Wyrm thinks it’s disrespectful and too soon for anyone else to have Dylan’s former room.

However, Wyrm tells Myrcella that if Mads comes over to visit: “I don’t want Mads Nillson fingering anyone in my room.” Myrcella replies, “I don’t want to be related to the only freak in ninth grade who can’t get his collar popped.”

Wyrm’s level of sexual experience will also affect whether or not he can graduate from ninth grade. He’s called into a meeting with his school’s child development specialist Reginald “Reggie” Corona (played by Davey Johnson), who tells Wyrm: “You are literally the last incoming freshman to complete their Level One sexuality requirement. We’re collecting collars on Picture Day.”

Wyrm asks for an extension on when he can get his collar popped. Reggie agrees to the extension but cautions that time will soon run out for Wyrm. Reggie advises Wyrm to play on people’s sympathy to find a girlfriend: “A death in the family should work in your favor.” Wyrm gets even more pressure from the school’s vice-principal Cynthia Lister (played by Natasha Rothwell), who has a separate meeting with Wyrm in her office and ominously says to him: “Lonely people are dangerous, especially lonely boys.”

Wyrm doesn’t get any sex education from his parents, who avoid talking to him about it. There’s an intentionally amusing scene were Wyrm asks his parents: “How do kiss a person? And how do you finger them?” Each parent tells Wyrm to ask the other parent. Myrcella, now feeling sexually superior to Wyrm, wants to distance herself from him and treats him like an outcast at school.

Teen movie cliché alert: A student has recently transferred to the school from Florida. Her name is Izzy (played by Lulu Wilson), who is a sassy non-conformist. Wyrm is immediately attracted to Izzy, and wants to date her, but there’s a problem: Izzy has a boyfriend named Kyle, who’s in Florida, and Izzy wants to stay loyal to Kyle. Izzy doesn’t care about Wyrm being an unpopular student and school, because she’s not part of the popular crowd either, not does she want to be part of the crowd.

Thus begins the “will they or won’t they get together” part of the Wyrm/Izzy relationship. Along the way, Wyrm spends time with two other teenage girls who give him more insight into male/female relationships. Lindsey (played by Sosie Bacon) is a 17-year-old sarcastic student, who uses a wheelchair and who knew Dylan very well. Wyrm’s friend Charley introduces Wyrm to his sister Becky (played by Cece Abbey), who’s about 15 or 16, and is kind-hearted and appreciates Wyrm’s quirkiness.

“Wyrm” has some familiar story arcs found in many teen comedies, but they’re slightly off-center enough to avoid being completely predictable. The Level One sexuality collar is a symbol of the pressure that is put on teens to have certain sexual experiences by they time they’re a certain age. Whether or not people agree with this pressure, it exists, and those who are deemed sexually inexperienced are often unfairly labeled as social failures.

“Wyrm” doesn’t pass judgment on its title character, nor does it assign blame to any particular person for why Wyrm desperately tries to get his first romantic kiss, or risk getting the stigma of “being left behind.” Instead, the movie’s “alternate reality” is used as a mirror to show people how much it reflects what many teens experience in real life to a different degree.

The movie also has a meaningful depiction of how people cope with death and how their memories of someone who’s deceased can be altered for various reasons. The interviews that Wyrm conducts about Dylan are ostensibly so that Wyrm can make a tribute to Dylan. But as time goes on, viewers can see that these Wyrm is using these interviews to deal with his grief and to get to know Dylan better, since Wyrm and Dylan weren’t very close to each other.

As social misfit Wyrm, Taplitz gives a commendable performance that solidly carries most of the emotional wright in the movie. The rest of the cast members are perfectly fine, but the movie lives or dies on whether or not viewers will be interested in Wyrm. Some of the movie tries too hard to be offbeat, but there are enough moments of genuine humanity that can make “Wyrm” resonate with viewers who might not have much in common with the characters.

Vertical Entertainment released “Wyrm” in select U.S. cinemas, on digital and VOD on June 10, 2022.