2.5/5

MOVIE CW: Suicide, Gore, Scopophobia, Animal Death, Substance Abuse, Child Neglect

I watched this movie a few months ago, around the time it first released. I'm shocked that I still think about this movie--mostly because I don't think it's as good as people on tiktok make it seem.

It was a huge disappointment for me because I actually really liked the first act. I still remember the first scene and the title sequence, and how invested I was. The smile demon's effects disturbed me; I was on the edge of my seat to see how this would affect our MC's wellbeing and her relationship to her loved ones. The music was great, the reactions sold it, the consequences were there.

But I thought the message about trauma started getting handfisted. To have someone directly say that the entity feeds off of trauma...yeah, they didn't need to do that, but I could look over it.

But I hated that they gave the entity a face and a voice. They were doing so well by just letting the horror be this sort of illness. But the minute the monster spoke, I was like, "This is corny."

Plus, the ending, which...no, I don't think everything needs a happy ending, but it just felt muddied considering all the hopeful messages they were sending beforehand. It felt like the writers did not know what they wanted to say. Definitely not a movie I'd reccomend to someone who struggles with deep depression.

I simply think we need higher standards when it comes to stories that touch on trauma.

- Jae (8/9/2023)

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