Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Ray Nicholson, Dylan Gelula, Raúl Castillo, Kyle Gallner, Drew Barrymore, Trevor Newlin, Zebedee Row, Robert Jekabsons, Sean Stolzen, Jon Rua, Vladimir Duthiers, Kristine Johnson, Margot Weintraub, Christopher Bailey.

To undergo the transformation from being considered a family friendly actor to being someone who can hold their own in the melee of a decently told horror stories to which cinema has constantly probed takes an aptitude of unrelenting talent to which the actor is unafraid of exploring.

For Naomi Scott, Smile 2 presents that opportunity to attend to a need of taking a journey where the young fans who held her in high esteem in the live action version of Aladdin, come face to face with the appearance of guilt and excess damnation; and it has to be said that the young actor portrays the descent into tortured examination of the soul thanks to the character’s actions of drug fuelled suffering with a certain degree of wide-eyed fascination; the type of facial brilliance and horror acceptance that the fan will acknowledge fitting the genre.

Despite having little to tie it to the original aside from the demonic grin that stretches across the face, Smile 2 is a decent sequel, it plays with the idea that whilst people may look for redemption for their actions, rarely do they achieve the serenity to fulfil the necessary apology, the truth of the act of contrition in which happiness is never again really granted.

It is to this, the choreography, the simplicity of the storyline, and the knowing nod to justice that the film offers in its stride and insight; and with Noami Scott effectively capturing the soul of relentless and uncontainable fear, the film is a worthy successor to the film based on the psychological horror Laura Hasn’t Slept.

An appealing idea that keeps giving the chills to those that dare respond to the smile.

Ian D. Hall