Smile (2022)

Last updated:
October 25, 2025

Smile (2022), directed by Parker Finn, is a psychological horror film that explores trauma, guilt, and the contagious nature of fear itself. Based on Finn’s short film Laura Hasn’t Slept (2020), the movie uses unsettling imagery and a creeping sense of dread to tell a story about inherited trauma and the impossibility of escaping one’s past.

Table of Contents

Detailed Summary

Introduction: The Trauma Begins

Dr. Rose Cotter (played by Sosie Bacon) is a dedicated psychiatrist working at a mental health hospital. One day, she meets a new patient, Laura Weaver, who claims to be haunted by a supernatural entity that takes the form of smiling people. Laura insists that the entity is responsible for the deaths of several others before her. As Rose tries to calm her, Laura suddenly smiles unnaturally—and slits her own throat in front of her.

This horrifying event becomes the catalyst for Rose’s downward spiral. From this moment, her sense of reality begins to crumble.

The Slow Descent into Madness

After Laura’s death, Rose starts experiencing strange phenomena: people around her begin smiling eerily, and she sees visions of Laura and other distorted faces. Her fiancé, Trevor (Jessie T. Usher), and her sister, Holly (Gillian Zinser), assume she’s having a mental breakdown due to overwork and childhood trauma. Rose, however, becomes convinced that she’s being haunted by the same entity that drove Laura to suicide.

She soon learns that every victim of this curse witnesses a suicide, then dies by suicide themselves—passing the curse to the next observer. It’s a supernatural chain of trauma.

The Investigation

Desperate to break the cycle, Rose contacts Joel (Kyle Gallner), a police officer and her ex-boyfriend, who still cares about her. Together, they investigate the previous victims and discover a disturbing pattern: each person who killed themselves had witnessed another suicide days before their own death. The chain stretches back dozens of cases.

Rose learns about one man who survived the curse—by killing someone else in front of a witness, thereby transferring it. This discovery presents Rose with a horrific choice: kill another person, or die by suicide herself.

The Truth About Rose’s Trauma

Through the haunting, Rose is forced to relive her childhood trauma—specifically, her mother’s suicide. As a child, Rose found her mother dying from an overdose but did not call for help, too frightened to intervene. The entity uses this guilt to manipulate her, blending reality and hallucination until Rose can no longer tell the difference.

The film builds an atmosphere of deep psychological terror: is the curse real, or a manifestation of unresolved trauma? The audience is left uncertain—until the horrifying finale.

Movie Ending

Rose decides that she must confront the entity in isolation, hoping to end the curse by dying alone. She drives to her abandoned childhood home, where she plans to face her fears and break the chain. Inside, she confronts the entity, which takes the form of her mother and tries to emotionally manipulate her. The scene shifts between horrifying reality and illusion, as Rose’s mind deteriorates.

Rose symbolically burns her mother’s apparition, setting the house and the monster on fire. She smiles for the first time in peace, believing she has freed herself. The camera lingers, suggesting closure… but then we cut to Joel arriving at the house.

Inside, he finds Rose alive—only she isn’t herself anymore. The entity has possessed her. She smiles that same haunting smile as she pours gasoline on herself and sets her body ablaze. The final shot shows Joel witnessing her fiery suicide—meaning the curse has now passed to him.

It’s a devastating ending that reinforces the film’s message: trauma, once unacknowledged, spreads endlessly.

Are There Post-Credits Scenes?

No, Smile does not have any post-credits scenes. Once the credits roll, the story is complete. However, some fans interpret the unsettling closing song as an auditory “echo” of the entity—suggesting that the curse continues beyond the film.

Type of Movie

Smile is a psychological horror and supernatural thriller. It relies more on dread, psychological tension, and emotional trauma than on jump scares—though it has plenty of those too. It’s a blend of The Ring, It Follows, and Hereditary in both tone and theme.

Cast

Sosie Bacon as Dr. Rose Cotter
Kyle Gallner as Joel
Jessie T. Usher as Trevor
Caitlin Stasey as Laura Weaver
Robin Weigert as Dr. Madeline Northcott
Kal Penn as Dr. Morgan Desai
Gillian Zinser as Holly

Film Music and Composer

The haunting score was composed by Cristobal Tapia de Veer, known for his work on The White Lotus and Utopia. The music uses distorted, dissonant sounds and unsettling drones to mirror Rose’s descent into madness. The sound design plays a crucial role in amplifying the film’s tension, often blurring the line between what’s real and imagined.

Filming Locations

The movie was primarily filmed in New Jersey, USA—specifically in Hoboken and Jersey City. The choice of these settings adds to the grounded realism of the story: a world that feels familiar and everyday, making the supernatural elements even more disturbing. The contrast between mundane urban spaces and the horrific experiences amplifies the tension.

Awards and Nominations

Smile was a surprise critical and box office success. It grossed over $200 million worldwide and received praise for its psychological depth. While it didn’t win major awards, it received nominations for:

Best Horror Film at the 2023 Critics Choice Super Awards
Best Director (Parker Finn) at various horror film festivals

Behind the Scenes Insights

The film originated from Parker Finn’s short Laura Hasn’t Slept, starring Caitlin Stasey (who reprises her role in Smile).
Finn used practical effects and minimal CGI for many of the film’s terrifying sequences, enhancing realism.
Sosie Bacon (daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick) delivered her breakout performance here.
The smile design was intentionally subtle—Finn avoided exaggerated makeup to make it eerily human.
The marketing campaign became viral, featuring actors smiling creepily at live sports events to promote the movie.

Inspirations and References

The film draws inspiration from:

The Ring (2002) and It Follows (2014), both featuring curses that spread between victims.
Psychological studies about vicarious trauma—how witnessing suffering can transfer emotional damage.
The tone and aesthetics resemble The Babadook and Hereditary, exploring grief and guilt through supernatural horror.

Alternate Endings and Deleted Scenes

There were discussions of alternate endings where Rose would survive but be institutionalized—left uncertain whether the entity was real or imagined. Parker Finn chose the darker ending to maintain thematic consistency: the inescapable nature of trauma.

Several deleted scenes reportedly included more hallucination sequences and deeper looks into Rose’s childhood but were cut to maintain pacing and mystery.

Book Adaptations and Differences

Smile is not based on a book, but rather on the short film Laura Hasn’t Slept. The feature expands the short’s core idea—a therapist haunted by a patient’s supernatural confession—into a broader narrative about trauma cycles.

Memorable Scenes and Quotes

Key Scenes

Laura’s gruesome smiling suicide in front of Rose.
Rose visiting her sister’s house and seeing the grotesque entity appear behind her nephew’s gift.
The encounter with the survivor in prison who explains the curse’s rules.
The finale in the childhood home—Rose’s confrontation with her monstrous, skin-peeling mother.

Iconic Quotes

“Once you see it, it’s too late.”
“It wears your face like a mask.”
“You can’t escape your own mind.”

Easter Eggs and Hidden Details

The film’s opening and closing shots mirror each other—suggesting an unbroken cycle.
The sound of distorted smiling or laughter plays faintly in background scenes where the entity is near.
The film’s title font briefly “smiles” during the opening credits if you look closely.
The number 10 appears multiple times—symbolizing the curse’s approximate duration before death.

Trivia

The film was originally planned for streaming on Paramount+, but strong test screenings pushed it to theatrical release.
The creepy smile was achieved by actors holding their expressions for long takes, without digital assistance.
Sosie Bacon said filming the hallucination scenes was “mentally exhausting” and required frequent breaks.

Why Watch?

Watch Smile if you love horror films that get under your skin rather than just make you jump. It’s about more than ghosts—it’s about the lingering scars of trauma and the fear of becoming your own worst nightmare. Its combination of eerie visuals, powerful performances, and existential horror make it one of the most unsettling films of the 2020s.

Director’s Other Works

Laura Hasn’t Slept (2020) – Short film, precursor to Smile
Smile 2 (2024)

Smile (2022)