Out of the Skye into the Spiral of Madness: 24’s Horror of the Year
Smile 2, starring Naomi Scott, Ray Nicholson, Rosemarie DeWitt; Written and directed by Parker Finn
by Dean Patrick
It’s quite a gem when a sequel comes out and utterly blows the original so far out of orbit that the original is only a soft memory. This is certainly the case with Parker Finn’s latest, Smile 2 as he takes his demon of insanity from his first outing to far new heights. He also has with him an unstoppable furnace blast of a performance from Naomi Scott. She rips out of your throat every emotion from terror to loss to anxiety to betrayal to confusion to perpetual delusion. Scott’s Skye Riley is the most powerful performance of the year from any actor. More on that later.
Horror often lies in the unseen, the unspoken, and the uncontrollable. In Smile 2, the terror is not just about the malevolent entity that drives its victims to suicide, but the merciless way it preys on the mind, driving its victims to a madness where suicide is seemingly the only out. Skye Riley is the perfect conduit for this exploration—a character whose descent into madness is as haunting as it is heartbreaking. Through Skye’s story, similar to Sosie Bacon’s in the first film, Smile 2 delves into themes of trauma, addiction, and the fragile line between reality and delusion. Only this time it’s presented by Finn in a full-on immersive assault on the senses.
At the heart of this film’s terror is the demon: a predator that thrives not on violence but on psychological torment. This is not a story of possession in the traditional sense—it is a story of annihilation, where the victim is driven to the edge of sanity and pushed, ever so deliberately, over the brink.
The parallel between the demon and addiction is one of the film’s most heartbreaking aspects. Both are forces that consume from within, convincing their victims that there is no way out. Skye’s struggle is not just with the entity but with the cycle of addiction that mirrors its tactics, creating a battle that feels hopelessly unwinnable.
It is a demon unlike any typical horror antagonist. Its goal is not simply to haunt or possess but to unravel. It feeds on the vulnerabilities of its victims, magnifying their fears, regrets, and traumas until they are left with only one escape: death. This is not a quick, merciful fate but one that is agonizingly orchestrated by the victim’s own mind. One mind trip after another after another after another…
For Skye, the demon becomes an omnipresent force, haunting her not through direct attacks but through the meticulous erosion of her reality. Skye has recently overcome a severe car crash that killed her boyfriend (with a standout performance from Ray Nicholson, Jack’s son) and tore her body to pieces. She’s been put back together again for a second chance in her career as a super famous rock star where she had spiraled into severe drug and alcohol addiction. The Smile Demon, or Trauma Demon as it was named in the first installment, begins with whispers and shadows, subtle manipulations of her environment that make her question her perception. As the film progresses, these intrusions grow more severe—moments of disorientation, encounters with grotesque visions, and auditory distortions that twist her memories into weapons against her.
Perhaps the demon’s most horrifying trait is its patience; it thrives on slow unraveling. Each step of Skye’s journey is a detailed carving by the entity designed to strip her of hope, to isolate her from those who could save her, and to convince her that the only way out is through complete self-destruction.
This is the weaponization of insanity. It is a constant mental assault that drives her deeper into her own mind, where her greatest fears and insecurities as an addict reside.
In one chilling scene (there are countless of them), Skye confronts a distorted version of her own reflection. The demon takes her voice, her movements, and even her memories, twisting them into a grotesque parody of who she is. This scene encapsulates the demon’s strategy: to make its victims believe they are beyond saving, that their own mind must be destroyed.
The film masterfully portrays this descent through its visual and auditory skill. Hallucinations appear suddenly, with grotesque imagery flashing briefly enough to leave Skye—and the audience—questioning what is real. The soundscape is equally disorienting, with whispers, sudden silences, and jarring crescendos creating an atmosphere of constant stress and unease.
Of course, Skye’s battle with addiction adds another layer to the demon’s strategy. Addiction itself is self-destruction, a cycle of dependency and despair that isolates its victims. The demon exploits this, using Skye’s history of substance abuse to deepen her loneliness and erode any lingering self-worth.
In one poignant scene, Skye attempts to reach out to a dear friend for help, only to be met with skepticism and rejection. The demon amplifies this moment, making Skye hear accusations that were never spoken and see anger that was never there. These distortions isolate her further, leaving her in abandonment with her addiction and the entity now feeding on her as a full course meal.
This parallel between the demon and addiction is one of the film’s most heartbreaking aspects. Both are forces that consume from within, convincing their victims that there is no way out. Skye’s struggle is not just with the entity but with the cycle of addiction that mirrors its tactics, creating a battle that feels hopelessly unwinnable.
As in the first film, in Smile 2 the demon’s ultimate goal is to drive its victims to commit suicide in front of a witness or witnesses so it can live on. By the time Skye confronts the entity in the film’s climactic moments, she is a shadow of who she once was. Her mind is fractured, her reality warped beyond recognition, and her will to fight almost extinguished.
In a devastating scene on stage in front of tens of thousands, Skye faces the demon in its true form—an amalgamation of her fears, regrets, and self-loathing. It doesn’t speak or lash out; it simply exists, a towering embodiment of everything she has been running from. It is a moment that crystallizes the demon’s full power leaving her with what seems the only option.
Now back to Naomi Scott’s portrayal of Skye. It is a performance that elevates Smile 2 from a terrifying story to a deeply mesmerizing one. She captures every facet of a woman unraveling to unhinged: from the tremors in her voice, the whisper-shouts to herself, the endless screaming in hallucinations, the physical anguish of a wrecked body, to a look inside her eyes where all hope has been extinguished.
In the film’s quieter moments, Scott conveys Skye’s vulnerability and determination, even as the cracks in her psyche begin to show. Her portrayal of Skye’s breakdown is raw and visceral, making every moment of her descent feel agonizingly real. The climactic scene, as Skye confronts the demon and herself, is almost unbearable to watch. Her screams, her desperation, her defiance—they are the cries of someone fighting for her life and her soul. It’s a performance that leaves the audience as shaken as Skye herself.
Smile 2 digs deep, almost too deep, exploring the fragility of the human mind and the devastating impact of addiction, isolation, and demonic possession. The demon is a terrifying antagonist not because of its form but because of its method, turning its victims’ minds against them until they see death as their only escape.
This is a film that breaks the senses. The final 30 minutes play as an LSD trip that has gone permanently south—a reminder that sometimes, the greatest horrors are the ones we create in our own minds.
Enjoy, my fine readers.
Leave a Reply