Smile 2 sees the Smile entity going to new lengths to terrorize its host, so much so that the line between what’s real and what isn’t no longer exists. Following the surprising success of Parker Finn’s Smile in 2022, a sequel, simply titled Smile 2, arrived in 2024. Also directed by Finn, Smile 2 is set six days after the ending of Smile, and continues to follow the path of the Smile entity as it claims more lives and is passed onto new hosts, among them pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott).
Skye is preparing for a new world tour after recovering from a car accident that killed her boyfriend, actor Paul Hudson (Ray Nicholson), and from substance-use disorder. However, the Smile curse is passed onto her after she witnesses the suicide of her drug dealer, the host of the Smile entity. What follows is Skye being haunted by the Smile entity everywhere she goes as it feeds on her trauma, and she carries a lot. The ending of Smile 2 has a couple of twists and leaves the big question of what was real and what was just a hallucination.
Everything Before Lewis' Death Was Real In Smile 2
Everything Before Skye Encountered The Smile Entity
The most obvious real scenes in all of Smile 2 were those at the beginning of the movie. Smile 2 immediately reunited viewers with Joel (Kyle Gallner) who, at the end of Smile, became the entity’s new host after witnessing Rose’s suicide. Not wanting to die, Joel planned to kill one of the henchmen of a drug kingpin in front of him to pass the curse onto someone who, according to Joel, deserved it. However, it went wrong, and both men died in a shootout, but unbeknownst to Joel, a drug dealer named Lewis Fregoli (Lukas Gage), witnessed everything.
Smile 2 continues the story of Kyle Gallner's Joel from the first film, and here is why the smile entity does what it does in the sequel.
Unfortunately, Lewis became the new host of the Smile entity, and he was the link to Skye. Smile 2 then introduced Skye, showing her status as a global pop star and her struggles while preparing for a new world tour. Although it was believed Skye had recovered from the accident and her substance-use disorder, the truth was that Skye still carried a lot of unresolved trauma and wasn’t ready yet for another world tour.
Despite going to therapy and applying some coping strategies, like drinking a bottle of Voss water every time she felt the need to do drugs or drink alcohol, Skye gave in and called Lewis for pills. Skye and Lewis went to high school together and he later became her drug dealer, but, unfortunately for both, Lewis succumbed to the Smile curse and killed himself in front of Skye, passing the entity onto her. Up until Lewis’ death, everything was real in Smile 2.
Skye's Fan Meet-Up, Rehearsal & Event Speech Probably Happened In Smile 2
The Smile Entity Started To Blend With Skye’s Daily Life
After becoming the Smile entity’s new host, Skye carried on with her life, but it soon became clear to her that things weren’t normal anymore. The first signs of the entity taking over came during a meet-and-greet with her fans, in which a young girl with a creepy smile approached her and stared at her the whole time. During that same meet-up, an obsessed fan approached Skye, got her autograph, and had his photo taken with Skye, but he went too far and freaked her out as he showed how obsessed he was with her.
That fan encounter was used by the Smile entity to mess with Skye later on, but the meet-and-greet is understood to have been real. During one of her rehearsals for the tour, Skye was also tormented by the entity, but the rehearsal was real. In addition to the rehearsals and any promotion she had to do at talk shows and in meet-and-greets, Skye was also invited to give a speech at a charity event hosted by a music executive. The teleprompter stalled while Skye was giving her speech, forcing her to improvise a disastrous speech, but the teleprompter failing was a hallucination.
The disastrous charity event is real, but not everything Skye saw actually happened.
The teleprompter started working again and made Skye introduce Paul Hudson, much to her and the audience’s shock. Skye saw “Paul” in the audience, smiling at her and approaching her, causing her to panic, and she accidentally ended up injuring an elderly patron next to her on stage. The disastrous charity event is real, but not everything Skye saw actually happened, such as the teleprompter stalling, introducing Paul, and Paul being in the crowd. These events show the Smile entity starting to take over Skye’s mind but not taking full control yet.
Every Scene With Gemma Didn't Really Happen In Smile 2
Gemma Was One Of Smile 2’s Biggest Twists
One of the biggest twists in Smile 2 was the truth about every single one of Gemma’s appearances. Gemma was Skye’s best friend, but after Skye insulted her over text, they stopped talking and their friendship was effectively over. Skye’s mother (and manager), Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt), told her she needed an assistant and should ask Gemma, completely ignoring that they hadn’t spoken to each other in over a year. Skye eventually sent a text to Gemma in an attempt to reconnect with her, and Gemma called her minutes later.
In Smile 2, Skye confides in her friend Gemma about what is going on with the Entity, yet Skye and Gemma don’t have the most easygoing friendship.
Skye asked Gemma if she could come to her apartment and she agreed, saying she would be there in around 45 minutes. Right after that call, Skye found the obsessive fan from the meet-up completely naked in her apartment, smiling at her. The fan chased Skye around the house, and when she got to the door to escape, Gemma was there. Skye questioned how she got there so fast, but Gemma told her an hour had passed since their phone call. Skye told her about Lewis’ death and all the weird stuff happening around her and asked Gemma to stay for the night.
Skye woke up in the middle of the night and opened up to Gemma, who was smiling at her and her face suddenly lit up like a car light and made an unsettling sound. All of a sudden, it was the next morning, and Gemma appeared behind Skye with two mugs of matcha before Elizabeth arrived. Gemma didn’t appear again until the third act of Smile 2, when she showed up outside the hospital and drove Skye to meet Morris. However, during the car ride, Skye got a call from Gemma, who confronted her about her “weird” messages after what she did to her.
Smile 2 sees the entity messing with Skye in new ways, including through her former best friend, Gemma, and there are clues to this reveal.
This revealed that all of Gemma’s appearances were a hallucination created by the Smile entity, through which it further manipulated Skye. The truth is that Gemma never called Skye, they never reconciled, and she never drove her to meet Morris, and instead, Gemma was very confused and annoyed by Skye’s many messages out of the blue and without an apology.
Skye Meeting Morris At The Bar In Smile 2 Was Probably Real
But Not All Her Interactions With Morris Were Real
A key character in Smile 2 was Morris (Peter Jacobson), an ER nurse who contacted Skye after following the entity’s trail all the way to her. Skye finally met Morris after the disastrous charity event, and he explained to her how the Smile curse was passed on, and his theory on the Smile entity being parasitic. That meant that it could probably die without a host, and to prove this, they would have to stop Skye’s heart and then resuscitate her. Skye and Morris met at a bar, where Skye was eventually recognized by the customers near their table.
Smile 2 introduces a new character in the form of Morris, and here is everything we know about the Smile sequel's mysterious new addition.
Morris appeared again in the third act of Smile 2 when Skye agreed to try the death and resurrection test so she could free herself from the entity. However, when everything seemed to be ready, Morris stepped out of the room and the entity began to haunt and psychologically torture Skye before she suddenly found herself on stage, on her tour’s opening night. It’s understood that Skye and Morris’ first meeting at the bar was real, but subsequent interactions weren’t, and they never met at an abandoned Pizza Hut to perform the test.
Smile 2 introduces Morris as a character in Skye Riley's life, but was Morris real or part of the curse? Here's what evidence the movie provides.
Skye Never Really Went To The Hospital
One Of Skye’s Most Chaotic Moments Never Happened
One of the most horrifying hallucinations caused by the entity was when Skye found her backup dancers smiling at her apartment, following her around the house and attacking her. The dancers held her down and forced a giant arm down her throat, leaving her unconscious. Skye woke up at a private hospital, with her mother waiting for her to wake up. After a heated argument, Elizabeth smiled at Skye, smashed a mirror, and stabbed herself with a shard, making it look as if Skye had killed her.
Just like the car ride with Gemma, the whole hospital scene wasn’t real, confirmed by Elizabeth showing up alive and well at the concert.
Panicking, Skye escaped her room and almost made it out of the hospital without being seen, but she was caught and she took the gun of one of the security guards. Outside the hospital, she came across Gemma, and they took Elizabeth’s car to go see Morris. Just like the car ride with Gemma, the whole hospital scene wasn’t real, confirmed by Elizabeth showing up alive and well at the concert, and it’s widely believed that the arm going down Skye’s throat was a visual representation of the entity entering Skye’s mind and taking full control of her.
Skye's Death At Her Concert Is Real In Smile 2
Unfortunately, Skye’s Unavoidable Fate Was Real
Despite there being one proven way to get rid of the Smile entity and survive, Skye couldn’t escape from the curse and the horrible fate that came with it. After being attacked by her past self, Skye found herself on stage on her tour’s opening night, confused as to how she got there and seeing her mother alive and well in the audience. Skye was fully possessed by the Smile entity, who made her smile to the audience while she stabbed herself in the eye with her microphone, thus passing the curse onto everyone at the concert.
Skye had no control over who she would pass the curse to.
This was the final step in the Smile entity’s plan, and after completely erasing the lines between reality and hallucinations throughout most of Smile 2, Skye’s death at the concert was, unfortunately, very real. On top of that, Skye had no control over who she would pass the curse to, and she ended up doing so to many, many people.
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.
Custom image by Ana Nieves.
English (US) ·