Smile (2022)

 Smile...2022...rated R...1 hrs 55 min...starring Sosie Bacon, Jesse T. Usher, and Kyle Gallner. Written and directed by Parker Finn

(Quick note, I certainly wasn't expecting it to be a month before I posted a review. In my defense, however, that month was full of bad health, new revelations, and currently a stint in therapy to regain both strength and independence. So...maybe cut a beleaguered old man some slack?)

Rose Cotter is a young therapist who we soon learn is a very driven person that can't seem to turn away a case. This manic drive proves to be a trait that she didn't need so much of (but has reasons for). On the way out of the office, she decides to help one more person. Said person claims that she's being stalked by something...something that has many faces...known to her and unknown as well but all with the most twisted smile. Rose tries to help but of course thinks that this is just something the young woman -believes- is true but isn't. Then the victim goes into a fit, with Rose getting help. But when Rose returns, the woman is no longer agitated. In fact she has a rather nasty smile on her face as she ends up killing herself. Soon Rose becomes the next person stalked by whatever is smiling so wrongly and of course, hijinks ensue.

This movie can be looked at on a few levels...it may not be the deepest piece of cinema ever but I think it's clear that the idea of trauma being passed on and affecting the next person or people in the chain is present. We find out that Rose has some deep flaws and issues, and has surrounded herself with the worst support group ever. The cinematography is gorgeous and the soundtrack matches it so that we, the viewers, understand that we are no longer in the normal, "sane" world once the entity enters. Rose is driven deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole of madness as she deals with something that can't be real and yet is.

There are a few jump scares along the way but at least one of them surprised me by how it was executed. The only telegraphed piece is, in my opinion, supposed to be that way. That makes it no less gruesome. The ending has some re iews loving it and others not so enthused...but I'm not sure how else it could have ended and not felt cheapened. 

Overall: solid horror movie; disturbing, triggery, scary, and often just downright creepy.  I give it 3.5 understaffed mental hospitals out of 5. I might have gone higher but it didn't hit the excellent mark for me, sadly. But in horror movies, I will take "damn good" gladly and happily.

Seven Years But Not Completely Dead (NAMR)

 Since it has been so long, and since I need to get back into the mindset of writing these entries, NAMR stands for "Not A Movie Review". This post is about why I have come back to this little side project of mine. Knowing the writer as I do, I'm sure we will meander here and there along the way. Straight lines and I have never really gotten along.

Honestly, I didn't really expect to be back to this virtual "neck of the woods". But I also did not expect another major complication that has affected my life. My health has taken a downward bump. I had to go see my doctor about an incident I had almost a month ago and since then moving about my house has been possible but limited. We're not sure what is going on just yet but it has very seriously impacted my life as well as my wife's. Even my dog knows something serious is up, though it doesn't stop my lovable goon from giving me sass. (That's just part of the service.)

So I have a lot more time on my hands right now and I need to find ways to keep busy or else I will worry myself into an even worse position. Worry is not a useful skill as far as I can tell but I have mastered the art of it in my multiple years roaming up and down on this planet. I remembered this blog and figured I certainly had a bit more time to devote to it right now.

So I'm back in the saddle again. I don't expect high readership or much of anything to come of it, but if it keeps me from vibrating through the bed Flash-style then my time invested will have been well spent.

Besides, I still have opinions. Lots of them.