The special effects are bracingly revolting, the malevolent smiles as creepy as ever. And the film has the added bonus of some killer choreography, in every sense of the word.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 30, 2024

While I’m sure I’ll again be in the minority, for all of its obvious strengths, and just like its predecessor, Smile 2 made me angry, and that’s all there is to say.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Oct 28, 2024

This is the rare case of a horror sequel that is better than the original.

| Oct 24, 2024

Finn supplies bigger, even more effective jump-scares than the last time, which will keep the popcorn flying. The sound design booms and rattles, the delusions are even more elaborate and the body horror is even bloodier and more disturbing.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 22, 2024

It's got a nicely nasty thing on its tail... it's very entertaining, Friday night crowd-pleasing, give-you-the-shivers fare.

| Oct 22, 2024

Smile 2 can't quite deliver on the promise of its premise, ultimately relying on the same trick of the original—but it's still a fittingly horrific final twist...

| Oct 21, 2024

“Smile 2” is a bigger movie in every way. Bigger isn’t necessarily better, but in this case, it’s not bad.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 19, 2024

It's more interesting when it's inside Skye's head, and Finn creates an elaborate house of cards that he's not afraid to blow down at any moment.

| Original Score: B | Oct 19, 2024

The movie ultimately scuttles its own ambitions.

| Oct 18, 2024

Yes, there are a few too many jump scares and at least one too many twists, but it’s all forgivable when you think of the true terror in Naomi Scott’s eyes.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 18, 2024

Director Parker Finn pulls no punches in this nightmare-fuelled sequel, taking us on a ride that’s even more intense and disturbing.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 18, 2024

Creepy and clever but rarely surprising...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 18, 2024

I’m not sure if Smile 2 really adds much to an experience that we don’t already know but it does make for a neat, well-utilised setting for a horror film about losing one’s mind.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 17, 2024

There are long stretches where you actually forget you’re watching a Smile movie and couldn’t be blamed for thinking you’ve stumbled into a slightly more nightmarish version of Beyond the Lights.

| Oct 17, 2024

“Smile 2” goes in a newish direction, to frustrating mixed results — but it’s a mixed bag you can respect because it’s not hackwork and it’s trying new things.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 17, 2024

The film finds dark humor in taking these desperate feelings of unease and feeding them to a kaleidoscopic creature of pain and viscera.

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 17, 2024

Parker Finn takes the intriguing but somewhat prosaically expressed conceit of his 2022 surprise smash and makes Smile 2 bigger and scarier in all the right ways.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 17, 2024

It’s tamer than its deeply unsettling predecessor, but still unhinged enough to keep you nicely on edge.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 17, 2024

[Smile 2] is more thematically ambitious than the original, which also allows Finn to stage more satisfyingly ridiculous kills and ramp up its air of delirium.

| Oct 17, 2024

Over two hours ends up being too long. But [writer-director Parker Finn] has found a great satirical target, given life to a third film easily and showcased another rising star to watch. That’s a reason to, well, smile about.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 17, 2024