This article contains spoilers for Smile and Smile 2
This article contains topics of murder, drug use, and self-harm.
Smile 2hit theaters this past October, two years after the release of the original Smile. Though it may be a sequel, Smile 2 was an instant box-office success, earning over $60,000,000 at domestic box offices alone (box office mojo). The film follows troubled pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), who is infected by the smile entity just as she is about to go on a world tour that will redeem her career.
Smile 2 teaches the audience much more about the Smile Curse itself, and how it works to infect the host’s mind. However, much is still left to mystery or unclear by the film's end. Much of this can be attributed to the film coming from the perspective of Skye, whose reality becomes increasingly warped as the entity infects her mind. Many of these unanswered questions will likely be left to be addressed if there is a third franchise installment. However, several clues in the film allow viewers to piece together the mystery for themselves.
10 Did Skye Imagine Morris?
Morris May Appear In Smile 3
One of the most mysterious appearances in Smile 2 was the introduction of the character, Morris, (Peter Jacobson), the man who has been tracking the Entity. Morris makes his first appearance in the film at the dive bar, where Skye meets him in secret. Here, he tells her about the Entity’s ability to completely control the mind, and how he can save her by stopping her heart. The second time she sees him, he vanishes just before fulfilling his plan and operating on her. Morris pops in and out of the film several times, with little to no backstory for his character.
Stranger yet is that Morris does not appear in the first Smile film, so it is natural to wonder if he was real at all. However, Morris is likely real, though parts of his story may be imagined. For example, Skye’s initial contact with Morris in the bar came before her final stages of infection. In his second scene, Morris is likely imagined because this came after her mind had fully become manipulated by the Entity.
9 Will All Of Skye's Concert Audience Contract The Disease?
Smile 3 May Focus On The Spread To The Audience
InSmile 2's twist ending, Skye is forced to perform onstage on the opening night of her tour, however, she soon succumbs to the entity and kills herself in front of the entire audience. This leaves another glaring question about whether her audience will be infected as a collective since they have witnessed her death.
According to the rules of the infection, whoever is present for the death of the Smile Entity’s host will be the next victim. If this is kept consistent at the end of Smile 2, then that means the entire audience will be infected as the new hosts. However, this larger-scale infection begs the question of whether the Smile Entity can spread to multiple hosts at once, and if this can spread via recordings of the performance. If so, this impossible problem means the stakes in Smile 3 will reach horrifying new heights that will be compelling to watch onscreen.
8 How Did Joel Live So Long With The Disease?
Smile 3 Could Explain What Allowed Joel To Live So Long
One returning character from the first film, Joel (Kyle Gallner), makes an appearance in the opening scene of Smile 2, when he attempts to save himself from the curse by passing it onto a drug dealer. His plan nearly succeeds before he dies in a road accident, but his ability to survive up until this point is surprising.
After the death of Rose in Smile (Sosie Bacon), Joel contracts the Entity disease, which is known to last for four days before killing the host. However, by the beginning of Smile 2, Joel is still alive six days later. This rule break is confusing, and leaves the audience to wonder how Joel was able to beat the odds of the curse and live two days longer than the usual victim. Though this is never addressed explicitly in Smile 2, perhaps his survival could be explained or connected in the third installment.
7 Where Did The Disease Originate From?
Patient 0 Could Be Revealed In Smile 3
One of the biggest mysteries in the Smile universe is how the entity came to be. Smile 2 fails to reveal the origin behind how the smile entity works, but inches closer to an explanation than is given in the first film, by tracing back to earlier victims of the disease.
In Smile 2, Morris explains to Skye that the entity could be traced back to a number of different victims. He also mentions that his late brother killed himself due to the curse, which likely came before the events of the first film, since Joel is only two cycles away from Skye. This, coupled with Morris's research on other hosts of the curse, suggests the Smile Entity has many more victims before reaching patient 0. This is just another detail that could finally be revealed in Smile 3 and provide further context about the Entity itself.
6 How Much Did Skye Imagine?
Outside POVs In Smile 3 Can Provide A More Accurate Account Of Skye's Actions In Her Final Days
The overlying question that audiences walk away with is how many events in Smile 2 were real, and what was created by the Smile Entity. Due to her decaying mental state, Skye Riley is an unreliable narrator, and even though the magnitude of her delusions is revealed in the final scene, it is left unclear exactly what was imagined.
The final scene reveals that Skye imagined many events after she fell unconscious in her apartment when the Entity successfully attacked her. Instead, she was preparing to go through with her tour, which she realizes when she wakes up onstage. Therefore, it is clear that most of what happened when she awoke after the attack, was all in her head. However, her hallucination of Gemma (which occurred early on), suggests the manipulation may have been prevalent in the early stages of infection.
5 Was Morris's Cure Ever Going To Work?
Smile 3May Reveal If Morris's Plan Could Defeat The Entity
One of the most intriguing parts about Smile 2 is Morris's plan to save Skye from the Smile Entity. This involved the extreme measures of stopping her heart momentarily so that the Entity would be tricked into thinking she was already dead. Unfortunately, Skye decided to go to Morris for help too late and never tested his theory.
This left a massive loose end for the Smile universe to solve. Though this exchange with Morris most likely occurred in reality, his plan may have been faulty even if she had successfully gone through with the procedure. However, if Morris was a hallucination created by the Smile Entity, audiences would then have to solve its motivation for telling Skye about a possible way to eradicate it. It is likely that Smile 3 will address this theory, debunking his plan or providing a cure for the curse at long last.
4 Did Skye Kill Her Ex-Boyfriend On Purpose?
Smile 3 Could Reveal More About Skye's Involvement In The Crash
Though Skye's life-altering car crash occurs before the events of the film, its effect on her is the main piece of trauma that the Smile Entity latches onto. A brief flashback reveals that Skye grabbed the wheel of the car, causing it to swerve off the road and crash.
Many of the events leading up to the crash are left ambiguous---the audience never learns what the couple is fighting about and what moments lead up to this point. However, it is clear that Skye was the cause of the crash. Her decision to grab the wheel may have implications for her intentions at that moment, as it is unclear whether she meant to cause her boyfriend harm or if this was the result of an impulsive fit of rage. Smile 3 may revisit this to reveal more about the context of Skye's accident.
3 What Did Skye Do To Ruin Her Friendship With Gemma?
Gemma Could Make An Appearance In Smile 3 To Explain Her Falling Out
Another remaining mystery about Skye's past is how she ruined her friendship with Gemma. This is even more relevant considering that Gemma never truly forgives Skye in the film, but she has instead been hallucinating Gemma's presence in a twist the whole time.
Little is mentioned of the magnitude of Skye's troubles before the start of the film, other than the car crash and her general abuse of substances. Considering Gemma's absence is such a significant plot point in the film, it is odd that there is never a formal conversation about the breakdown of their relationship. This contextual detail may be revisited in Smile 3, adding more important details about Skye's dark past and the lead-up to her death.
2 How Did Lewis Contract The Disease?
Smile 3 May Explain More About How The Curse Transfers
Lewis (Lukas Gage) is the host who transfers the Smile Entity onto Skye Riley when she witnesses his gruesome death. However, it is unclear how Lukas contracted the disease himself, though it is insinuated that this is through his contact with Joel at the beginning of the film.
Unlike other victims of the Smile Entity, Lewis does not witness a suicide, but instead sees Joel kill two drug dealers. This may be the reasoning for how the disease passed onto him, yet this would suggest the curse transfers in yet another way. Perhaps in Smile 3, the rules for curse transfers will be clarified to confirm how Lewis became the next host for the Smile Entity. This may also indicate whether the Entity purposely chose Lewis to get to Skye Riley, or whether it was unplanned.
1 Did Joshua Trash Skye Riley's Room?
Who Was Responsible For The Destruction Of Her Dressing Room?
A smaller, yet intriguing mystery left in the film is whether her assistant, Joshua (Miles Gutierrez-Riley), is actually responsible for trashing her dressing room. Though Skye witnesses him exit her room, he refuses to admit guilt and seemingly has an alibi for his whereabouts at the time.
Though Joshua is likely a hallucination, the state of the room is not, and her team is left confused over who could have been responsible for the vandalization. Physically, the Smile Entity is unable to act without the host, so it is likely that either Skye or someone else is responsible for the mess, unless this is another imagining of the Entity. With the loss of Skye in Smile 3, Joshua himself or other members of her team may be revealed as culprits, or confirmed innocent.
Smile 2 is the sequel to the 2022 psychological horror film by director Parker Finn that centers on a therapist who witnesses a patient's suicide, leading to a series of terrifying supernatural events. The sequel will see the return of Finn as director, with Paramount continuing distribution.
Image created by Yeider Chacon.
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