When the trailer for Smile dropped in June of 2022, it was met with a mixed response. Many saw the film as derivative and ready to be forgotten as soon as it was released. Three months later, Smile came to theaters. Although those criticisms of unoriginality were still present, buried within was a nihilistic and cruel piece of horror. In this piece, I want to examine the 2022 horror film, Smile, and how this seemingly unoriginal film is a brilliant deconstruction of the term we call “Elevated Horror”.
What Is Elevated Horror?
First, what is elevated horror? Elevated horror refers to films that combine conventions of the horror genre with artistic trappings. Rather than jumpscares, this form of horror aims for something more psychological and philosophical in its themes. Examples of this are films like Hereditary, Get Out, and The Babadook. While each of these is rooted in horror, they contain more artful sensibilities such as themes of trauma, race, and mental health. It’s a term that has been used for horror films across the 20th century but has found popularity in the 2010s with distributors like A24 finding success through this corner of the genre. Despite the acclaim that examples of elevated horror bring, many filmmakers have their issues with the term.
For many, “Elevated Horror” is an elitist term that serves to demean the genre of horror by claiming these titles as classier and above the genre. Regardless of your opinion on this term, this brand of horror is at its peak in popularity and Smile seeks to deconstruct it. How does it do this? Let’s dive into the film itself to find out.
“It’s Smiling at Me”
When Smile begins, we see a deceased woman on a bed. Alongside the chilling music, it’s a strong image that acts as a starting point for Smile’s horror. The woman we see is the mother of Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon). Rose is a woman plagued by the trauma of her youth yet it’s this trauma that leads her career path. Rose Cotter is a therapist in a psychiatric ward and during a shift, she’s assigned to Laura (Caitlin Stasey).
Laura is troubled and claims that an entity has been following her since she witnessed a gruesome suicide. The smiling entity takes on multiple forms but one is specific to her. Laura claims that the entity appears as her grandfather who died in front of her when she was seven. Immediately, Smile points to trauma as a source for the film’s horrific imagery. Although we don’t see Laura’s grandfather, an image is painted of a face that feels familiar to us. This entity takes on the form of a family figure and corrupts them into a horrific image. This concept of corruption can be applied to Smile’s wider aim at elevated horror and its aim to destroy its conventions by mimicking them.
The Dismissal of Trauma
After the horrific death of Laura, the core plotline of Smile kicks off. The entity of the film acts as a curse akin to the videotape from The Ring where Rose is given seven days to confront it. In the aftermath of Laura’s death, Rose is interviewed by two detectives. One of which is Joel (Kyle Gallner), her ex-boyfriend. As they ask questions about Laura’s mental state, there’s cruelty in the attitudes given by the detectives. From calling her a “head case” and dismissing her final moments, Laura’s trauma is erased at her death. Unbeknownst to the detectives, however, this trauma has passed over to Rose. The dismissing attitude adds to the tone that Smile greets you with to mark itself as a different beast. It’s not a film that’s going to greet you with an embrace. In fact, it’s only gonna get worse from here.
Rose’s character arc isn’t new. It’s a standard tale of a character who struggles with psychological terror with everyone surrounding them being unaware of their troubles. However, the lack of restraint that Smile has to execute these tricks with as much malice towards Rose as possible makes it an inch above the rest. It’s not that Smile has a bone to pick with Rose; rather, she’s another cog in the machine that the film has created. In an argument scene between Rose and her fiancé, Trevor (Jessie T. Usher) we see Rose desperately pleading for Trevor to understand that something’s wrong. However, Trevor is quick to bring up her family’s history of mental illness in an attempt to shut her “delusions” down. It’s cruel and in the world of Smile, par for the course.
The Downward Spiral
Smile’s use of horror doesn’t just come from the supernatural elements of the story but also through the societal dismissal of one’s trauma and struggles. Rose goes through a harrowing journey throughout the film but thanks to Sosie Bacon’s phenomenal performance, there’s an immediate sympathy created as we track her journey down this spiral. That sympathy doesn’t match the film’s intentions, however. Many examples of elevated horror give their main character a path of either redemption or escape that, while effective in its own way, can lead to the horror becoming weakened. The ending of Smile is where this truly comes into effect.
Letting Something Inside
The ending of Smile takes the template of an elevated horror finale to an absurd degree. Rose burns her family home to the ground and by extension, her trauma burns with it. It’s a scene that borders on parody yet for those watching, something isn’t right. Rose victoriously walks away and finds herself at Joel’s home. She asks to stay and for a moment, the sparks of their previous romance begin to reignite. However, Joel reveals with a smile that Rose is hallucinating and is still in the birthplace of her trauma. It’s a scene that punctuates the core of Smile’s screenwriting exercise. Throughout the film, we’ve seen many of the familiar plot points of elevated horror yet this serves to lean more into Smile’s mission to feel like a relentless rollercoaster of scares rather than giving the audience the satisfaction of a victorious horror story.
Elevated horror isn’t afraid of a bad ending but it’s quick to give a satisfying conclusion to an audience by turning trauma into a villain. Villains can be defeated but in reality, trauma is nowhere near close to that. In fact, it’s something that always remains in the minds of people. Cinema can be a way to escape this fact but with Smile, horror is created by coming to terms with this terrifying fact and creating visceral scares from it.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Smile ends as it begins. The use of terrifying imagery and the message that there is no escape from trauma. Is it hopeless? Yes. Is it terrifying? Absolutely. That second question is one that Smile takes interest in from the very beginning. It’s a film that places its interest in trauma like a facade to lure the audience into its rollercoaster ride of nightmares. A film that is unafraid to use jumpscares and in the eyes of “elevated horror”, lose its class and wear its inspirations on its sleeve.
Horror is defined by its ability to elicit shock and fear within an audience and while this is in abundance already, there is an argument to be made that we as an audience have become used to happy endings at the end of modern horror films. Smile demands the audience to come on board with its uncomfortably nihilistic mindset. Whether or not this works on a personal level is ultimately up to the viewer. However, films like Smile are more important than ever to ensure audiences don’t feel complicit as we explore this corner of psychological or “elevated” horror. It may not be for everybody nor is it trying to be. Instead, it’s an evil descent into madness that greets you with its horrific delights…with a smile.
Fancy reading something else? Check out: 10 Horror Movies To Look Forward to In 2023
