Smile (Dead Meat Podcast Ep. 178) 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the reason the scares in this movie work so well is that at no point is the film trying to scare you, the audience. Every scare is pointedly directed at Rose and done with reason and purpose.

The monster design is so cool because the way it possesses people is by crawling into them through their mouth, and it's design looks like a person inside a person inside a person and they're just all decaying which is awesome they put in thought into the design like that

Smile was great. I was actually expecting the nephew to be the next victim. For me the best scare was when the entity pretended to be the therapist

A detail im surprised you guys didnt touch on is when rose is sitting in bed after the big car fight and she hears disembodied voices in a closet (?) saying "rose" and "rose look at me" and she literally just lays down as an apparition of laura appears. This further pushes the theme of rose ignoring trauma even as it closes in on it

As someone with chronic anxiety and depression, I felt their portrayal of mental health was well executed. I felt for the main actress a lot, as I had a partner that also cared about my mental health while it was easy for her. Once it declined, I was abandoned. Overall this movie was a good horror film with some powerful undertones. Love the channel, James and Chelsea! I hope everyone in the comments have a good day.

I haven’t seen Smile, but I work at a theater. Everyone hates cleaning after this movie. The soundtrack during credits has made me jump several time. Once, I was so startled I jumped over the railing at the top section of the theater to get out of the auditorium.

Personally I read the ending as a message of drawing the line between self-harm and retraumatization vs. genuinely dealing with one's own trauma in a way that is compassionate. Rose is quite literally *going back to the place* where all of this abuse and ultimately suicide occurred. But based on my own experience, you don't overcome trauma by *forcing* yourself to relive it. You don't overcome trauma by punishing yourself. I read the ending as a commentary on how survivors of trauma and abuse can sometimes seek that same feeling of terror, pain, and isolation over and over again because it feels familiar. Confronting trauma in a healthy way doesn't look like Rose going alone into this abandoned decrepit place that houses so much pain for her. She's just retraumatizing herself. In my mind, confronting trauma well, especially when it involves an abusive/negligent parent, looks a lot more like thinking back to your childhood self and telling them that they didn't deserve it. It involves self-compassion, sometimes to a painful degree. For Rose, I think it would involve admitting to someone what really happened - such as a therapist or trusted loved one - and beginning the process of forgiving herself. She hates herself for that choice, and thinks that everyone else would too. I think that's why this movie works so well though: for people who have survived childhood abuse, that's often all survivors know how to do. In the supernatural context, maybe it would have involved actually reconciling with this "entity" and trying to understand it, rather than trying to physically destroy it - because you can't beat fire with fire. Trauma born from violence can't be overcome with violence. You can't hate yourself out of self-hatred. Ultimately, I think that's why it gets the better of her at the end: because Rose couldn't meet her own self-destructive trauma responses with compassion.

when the nephew unwrap his birthday gift, it was such a Nightmare before Christmas moment "What did Santa bring you?"

As above so below was another horror movie that used the phone motif really well. Scarlet's dad also died by suicide and tried to call her for help and she didn't pick up the phone, so the catacombs haunt her with the image of a phone ringing repeatedly.

Love the set up, feels like parents sitting down to tell you a tale

Everybody in the theater gasped and wanted the fiance to die after he brought up Rose's mom and said she's like her

i think it’s also interesting that baker-miller pink is only temporarily calming, with some researchers saying it doesn’t even have an effect at all. it kind of insinuates that rose’s dismissal is a temporary bandaid for her serious trauma, and in the end it won’t fix the issues she’s dealing with.

As we were walking out after the movie finished, one of the workers was standing by the exit smiling like from the movie. I didn’t notice it but my girlfriend freaked out and didn’t want to walk past her lmao

To add to Rose asking about prescriptions: it's pretty commonplace amongst mental healthcare professionals to try to avoid giving patients drug right away not just because of the avoidance of trauma, but depending on how long it's been since Rose got therapy last, she'd probably need another screening to evaluate her mental state in order to receive that particular drug. In addition to other factors, such as lifestyle management, if she's on other controlled substances and how they'd interact, etc. I had to see my psychiatrist and prove consistent symptoms three times before they were like "ok yeah you obviously need this medicine."

I noticed that during the scene where the therapist is slowly coming at her in her living room, she feels like she's so big and tall as she steps over the couch to make a direct line to Rose... Felt weird at the time but at the end when the demon is this huge thing whose head reaches the ceiling, it made sense why the therapist felt big too.

Interesting fact about Baker-Miller Pink: although studies did show that this particular shade of pink did calm people down, it also only worked for 15 minutes. Supposedly, after the 15 minutes, aggression levels went back to normal or were heightened. Sounds like it could have symbolized a relapse for the movie.

"It Follows is just vibes" is the best description of the movie I've seen

Nice didn’t expect this one to be out so soon. You got to give Chelsea props, she’s on it! CHELSEA’S GONE SHORT AGAIN 🥳

My friend and I were pleasantly surprised at how good this movie was. It reminded me a lot of ‘It Follows’, ‘The Ring’ and a little bit of ‘Perfect Blue’ with how the main character’s hallucinations worked in the film. I feel like it did a good job of taking the influences from those films and implementing them in a way that it’s able to stand out and not come off as trope-like.

I loved this movie UNTIL the end and here's why. Her ex KNOWS what is going on. He KNOWS what this thing feeds on. When he comes in and he sees her and OBVIOUSLY she is smiling, he had the opportunity to pull himself together and leave that cabin and NOT see it happen. He didn't. If he wasn't aware of what was going on or he had fought her on this the whole time, I could understand how the shock would cause him to stare, but that isn't the case. Still a solid movie, but man...to me that end was a misstep. However, even at home, it was deeply disturbing, I jumped a couple of times and I'm not easily scared. I think the last one that unnerved me this way was Hereditary. Also..RIP Moustache.

I feel super lucky that I went into this movie knowing nothing about it and never watching a trailer so I got to experience all the jump scares organically. It was such a great experience

I watched this movie with friends on impulse without knowing anything beforehand, and it was wayyy better than I expected. The set design and the vivid blue and pinks were really great, kudos to that part of the team!

The advertising for this movie was so interesting too! They would stand in the background of live sporting events/morning news shows and just stare and smile into the camera for hours on end. They did a good job going viral and got me from there!!

Big smiles are scary for a reason. Baring your teeth to someone is always a threatening display for animals

You nailed it with the stress part. I've never been this on-edge in a movie. After a few of the scares, I even started questioning what reality was in the film. Creepy movie... I loved it

The part where Rose sees Laure in the dark when she breaks the wine glass reminded me of Hereditary when Annie see her dead mom in the room tell she turn the light on. Another great horror movie!!!

This is random, but I love Chelsea’s hair here. Giving me swoopy little mermaid vibes!

Even without the horror elements, Smile works as a drama.

I also really like the ending and dont think it’s disappointing. It drives the point home for me that everyday people tell you to put a smile on your face not realizing what you’re going through, as Sosie Bacon’s character is forced to stay home from work and sit in her thoughts and constantly compare her life to her sister who is better off, its all very relatable to people suffering with depression. The end ties it all together for me, im at the part where chelsea said she had a different reading on the ending so im excited to see what Chelsea thinks!

Saw this movie on Halloween and loved it. The best or worst thing, depending how you look at it, was that I was only one in the theater so the anxiety levels we're definitely higher than normal

As someone who went through almost the exact same situation with my own mother, this movie hit me REALLY fucking hard emotionally. I didn't find my mom, but I did leave her to live with my dad. I was really rooting for Rose to overcome the whole ordeal. I cried for her.

Hearing Chelsea say peace up A-town down is something I didn't know I needed until now lol

I thought of the upside down drone shots as “turning that frown upside down”

The best scares, or rather the creepiest visuals in my opinion were in the trailer, and half the jumps were cheaply done, literally LOUD SMASH CUT TO NEXT SCENE AAAAAAA, but I still had a good time. It created a super tense atmosphere throughout and the lead acted so incredibly well. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't as silly as the trailer suggested, it was definitely unsettling so it did its job pretty well :) I wasn't overly enamoured, but had a good time, glad you guys like it too. I always love hearing your thoughts:)

One of those movies that I notice something different every time I rewatch a scene or hear someone talk about it, the fact that Laura chokes during her death because it crawled inside her is terrifying 😂

It's cool that they thought through the logic of the ending as it pertained to the opening because Laura screams upon seeing the entity then while the camera is still on her she never actually stops screaming because her expression doesn't change. It looks like she's fighting against something. Her legs are trying to push away from something but she can't move. Then her screaming abruptly stops and it sounds like she's being choked or gasping for air but still flailing about as if the creature is holding her down and is now crawling down her throat blocking her screams as she struggles against it. Another great performance from Caitlin Stasey. Once you know what's happening everything she does makes perfect sense. It both looks exactly like what is happening in the reality of the scene while being vague enough that we don't immediately catch on to what is happening to her in that moment. It's perfect.

As a Midwesterner, it is not all that common for people to not consistently go to theaters. It is much more of a date night/special occasion thing so people aren’t always the most respectful unless you’re watching a niche movie. I saw don’t worry darling on opening night and most of the audience was giggling during a scene that was rather serious and very important to the movie.

Gotta love the way James and Chelsea go into depth on every movie they review, I love learning more about the horror genre from those two

Regarding that shade of pink: I recall reading that not only is the relaxing effect temporary, but once the subject is no longer exposed to it they will become more easily agitated as if subconsciously they feel they were tricked or deceived into calmness. The brain is weird, man

Chelsea, I just wanted to say I'm loving the hair. Not that you need confirmation or anything. I just can't get over how much I love it.

personally, i think the part that got me the most was when rose was listening to the session recording. i had super bad hearing so i leaned forward to hear it better because i genuinely wanted to know what was being said, and then that fucking jumpscare happened and i never jolted back so hard 😭😭

The performance artist Chelsea mentioned is Marina Abramovic and the specific art piece is called The Artist is Present. Incredibly moving, confronting piece (as performance art lovers are used to from her) .

I had a really unintentionally funny moment during the scene where she's listening back to her patient on he laptop, cause I sneezed while she was doing it, and pretty much everyone in that damn theater got distracted by it so when the jumpscare came it scared the shit out of them

This was the first movie I've seen in theaters that made me have to go to the bathroom to catch a break. It gave me so much anxiety LOL

Unfortunately i had no idea what the movie was about and was very much dragged to the theatre by my friends. As someone that struggles with mental health this movie scared me shitless. It’s very good and well executed, but holy shit this messed me up

i absolutely loved this movie! as someone who struggles with depression it hit home a few times and made it even more unsettling. seeing how people don’t believe someone just because they may have mental health issues. love the episode and your hair looks great chelsea!!!

The themes in this movie are very similar to The Vigil (2019) which also deals with trauma and forgiveness, but from a Jewish perspective. It would be awesome to hear you guys cover that someday

i watched this at home and was TERRIFIED (rare for me after seeing horror movies) because i wasnt in a theater with others, i was ALONE.

I was WAITING for this episode, I was looking forward to hearing your guy’s opinions on this film. Personally I think it had some solid scares, definitely an enjoyable theater experience.

Like the sheer genius I am I decided to watch 'Smile' for the first time. Just now. At 8pm. By myself. It scares aren't lingering with me as much as I thought they would though that's not to say it isn't staying with me for other reasons. It could have been ridiculous but oddly enough it's the shot of the entity climbing into Rose's mouth that's playing over and over. I was so hoping Joel wouldn't break down that door. Why couldn't Trevor get it? I was very disappointed in him for turning on her immediately. Even if he didn't believe her that shouldn't matter. She needed help. Pissed me off. I thought the way the story played out with her discovering the way "Smile" was passed along played out at the perfect pace. The fakeouts were really well done. I'm not sure it's a movie that'll end up in rotation after this as figuring it out was kind of integral to my enjoyment and now that I know it could lose a little something. I am trying to get a friend of mine to watch it and she will probably freak out which will be fun to see so there's that. Great movie though. Looks good, some really nice cinematography. Funnily enough once the entity revealed itself it wasn't all that scary. The creepy smiles are far worse. It's a neat twist on the "get curse then pass on curse before you die in about a week" genre though it does have some similarities to both 'The Ring' and 'It Follows' (P.S. I wrote this before starting the video, came up with those on my own as they are the most obviously similar movies, didn't copy Jame or Chelsea) it's different enough that it never bothered me. I feel like they left that door open for a sequel but I'd be just as happy with a one and done. A great little horror movie that captured the attention of a jaded audience and beat out the "final" (we'll see) film in one of the biggest horror franchises in history which deserves all the recognition it gets because that's no easy task. Well done to everyone involved. I look forward to whatever comes next as this group will be one to watch moving forward.

The car window scene will go down as one of the most iconic horror film scenes in history. That scene, despite seeing it in trailers, still made me yelp and I don’t do that often with horror movies. This one messes you up. I was skeptic when it first came out because Truth or Die fucking overdid the whole “demonic smile” crap but this movie - man. Gave me chills anytime someone had that smile before shit went to 100

So, interesting note, you guys don’t spoil movies for me. You help me decide if I want to watch them. Watching a movie with what I know from your analysis, after watching your video, gives me a context and things to look for. If I really want to watch it, I will drop out half way through, so the ending isn’t spoiled… but, I’m very busy and don’t have much time to get to the theaters. So, I appreciate you helping me use my free time in a good way

Weird fact about this movie the official/ unofficial sub title to this movie is "Something Is Wrong With Rose" I only know this because I work at theater and I got to upload the movie

saw this movie in a completely empty theater and i felt like was experiencing a nightmare. somehow it's familiarity was its biggest weakness and one of its stronger points too, it allowed me to somewhat feel comfortable but then did a complete 180 with how i was expecting the scare. i was tense throughout and i left the theater shaking. loved it

I’d really love to see you guys cover Mike Flanagan’s amazing run that he’s been dominating with the past few years. Particularly Midnight Mass and the Haunting of Hill House, as those are my favorites.

I've seen a lot of horror, but this is the only horror movie to make me shed a tear. They Look Like People did something similar, but it wasn't anywhere near this level for me. Quite amazing.

This was the first horror movie I ever watched in theatre, and, since it was a slow day at the theatre and my friend works at the theatre. We go to watch it for free there....and were the only 3 watching the movie. Our stress levels were through the r o o f.

I went into this movie knowing absolutely nothing about it, had only seen the first trailer once, and thought the whole movie was going to be with the first victim we see. Not knowing anything made this movie amazing! We had so much fun in the theater! Also Chelsea didn’t touch on this, but that shade of pink while it does temporarily reduce aggression, long term exposure makes people more aggressive, agitated, and easily stressed! While the blue that the main characters house is painted, as well as a lot of the blue clothes she wears, is a color that does genuinely reduce stress and agitation the longer you’re exposed! Showing how the main character not only wants to be that for others, but also herself.

The best part about the audio playback scene is when laura says "rose" quietly, when rose plays it back it skils over the part where we heard it. It gives you a split second to realise that what she heard didnt come from the recording.

that fucking car scene wrecked me in the trailers. i feel like it was even scarier during the movie because i knew it was going to happen and so the suspense made it more intense. my friends walked me out of the theater wrapped in a blanket because i was so scared😂 one of my favorites!

What an amazing year for horror movies!

i think the only sequel i would be interested in is about her nephew. that could be interesting if they INSIST on making another one.

14:50 so happy to see that my favorite horror podcasters are on the same wave length as me and my gf when we walked out of our first time seeing this movie. The whole reason it's the 'smile' demon is because that is the face that traumatized people or those with mental illness feel like they have to put on so that just even a bit of the pressure goes away. Rather than it just being a creepy gimmick like the way Truth or Dare used it. Love you guys! Thank you so much for every upload and all the hard work you do! ♡♡♡

Just wanna say I LOVE Chelsea’s hair! It looks so good in that longer strawberry blonde bob

Huge, I was a second away from heading to work but now I can download this and listen to it during it, thank you so much

I saw this movie, and the movie never let you feel safe with constant mini jump scares. The ending was by far the best part of the movie.

Spoilers**- but OMG that scene with our lead actress in the car towards the end with the Carl jump scare was one of the only ones that made me jump out of my seat 😂 a lot of the scares were done well but that one got me too. My reaction felt the exact same to your guys' 😂👍

the movie really scared my mom, so when she went to the restroom me and my sister stood right outside the door with the biggest smile on our faces.

I really liked the movie. One of the scariest endings ever. Had chills for a solid minute at the end.

The car scare honestly had me screaming in the theatre lmao

I honestly love this movie. It scared the shit out of me where I couldn't sleep by myself for a few days. I thought the jump scares were really well done and also just the atmosphere where she has no idea what's real or nor anymore is so unsettling. Some of the imagery as well still stays with me like the very end with the entity and how it entered her was just so disturbing to me. Listening to the scares again as well just gave me chills cause even though it has jumpscares the way they are framed is creepy as well such as the home alarm system phone call and the therapist one. This movie just set me so on edge and the tension was so real the entire time. In my theater as well someone near the end walked out and literally exclaimed sorry guys I can't do this and left. Which made us all laugh and was that break in tension the movie doesn't give. I'm just so excited that Dead Meat covered this cause I've been talking about this movie since I saw it late September just cause of how much of a visceral reaction I had due to it.

I just want to let James know I never talk over or look away from his Kill Counts. First to pause or rewind if watching with someone else, too. Just so you know that some of us are hanging on your every word really neurotically 😂 Love you guys! This episode was great

I haven’t been jump scared in years but this movie got me once or twice. Loved it.

I would love to see a sequel following the cop’s time with the curse. It seems like he’s setup with knowing the most about the curse and might have a legit chance to survive it. That or if it follows the kid in the future since it paralleled Rose’ experience as a kid and her mom.

Smile and Halloween ends has been my 2 most anticipated pod cast episodes. I was lucky enough to go see this film without seeing the trailer with my fellow cast members of the haunted house we work at, lot of good discussion about it

Saw it in a theater with a friend. No one other than the two of us were there so we had the whole place to ourselves. She got scared and left halfway through the film. I stayed until the end and I honestly wasn't effected by it. It just wasn't scary to me. I'm honestly starting to think that I'm never going to find another movie that can scare me, the thought of that makes me pretty sad. I miss that feeling, but now I can barely remember it. I love horror, it's my favorite genre without a shadow of a doubt, but I can't connect with it anymore, not like I did when I was a kid. Nothing gives me nightmares, or makes me double check my rear view mirror on the drive home, or think twice about going to the bathroom at night. I want that back. I want to remember that feeling, but I just can't. I really wanted to be afraid of this movie.

There was a cut in this movie to the loudest can of cat food I've ever heard. I was already so on-edge that I jumped 2 feet in the air out of my seat.

the part where Rose runs out of Joel's house and ends up back in the woods and it turns around and you see that the cabin is still there literally made me tear up in the theatre! She finally opened up to someone and then when she finds out it's not real is so heartbreaking!!! I wanted so badly to believe that she was okay, that was super effective, ugh. also! The shot of Joel's horrified face with the fire reflected in his eyes was INCREDIBLE!!!

My take from the ending was that you can’t just get over your ptsd. A line in the movie was that it stays with you forever. The job of someone with PTSD is to stop the spread. I had a rough childhood with terrible parents. While I seem normal on the surface, I’m really not. I don’t want kids because my idea of being a good parent just isn’t plausible. I don’t know how to raise my kids without scarring them or raising them to be spoiled, entitled and terrible people. I only know of 2 extremes. What is considered an appropriate punishment? As a kid, I was beaten and bullied by the adults in my life. Instead of passing on that trauma to my children, or making new trauma, I decided to end the cycle with me. Though for this movie, only way I could see it happening was if Rose killed herself without an witnesses. Overall it’s a shitty but necessary sacrifice. Same way I won’t have kids. I’d love to but it would end terribly if I did.

There’s a drag queen who on drag race did this speech about addressing trauma. She told a crazy story about being hit by a car and that she just got up and in her panic just brushed it off and went about her day and years later has issues and pain stemming from that untreated injury. She does it as a joke but the core was if you don’t deal with your trauma as soon as possible whether it’s physical or mental, you will have to reckon with it eventually. The longer you wait the worse it is. This movie basically was worst case scenario of waiting too long

I truly loved Smile and was surprised when I got on Twitter but I’m glad to hear other people liked us too

I was scared by most of it. The opening scene was the peak for me. most of the smiles just came off as funny for some reason especially carl and the therapist.I love the scares where stuff doesnt like make sense like the phone call scares and the slow pans. Movies that really scared me: Rosemary's Baby Annihilation The Babadook Scream

The thing that made this movie so scary was how realistic the situation felt, nobody believed her and now she understood the frustration the girl felt in the beginning (also random people could start smiling in people knowing a lot of people have seen this movie which is messed up but funny)

I was so frustrated by the ending. I know that a 'disappointing' ending is an ending all the same, but there were so many times the movie could have left on a hopeful note that it ignored in favour of continuing the cycle of trauma. We spend so much time with rose learning and trying to break free of that guilt from her past, and when we think she's finally succeeded we learn that it was all for nothing. rose worked so hard for an ending she didnt deserve. It makes sense though, of course it makes sense, because the way rose attempted to get a resolution wasn't healthy. She took advantage of joel's kindness, and joel in turn enabled her obsession, so neither of them were truly 'good' per se. But they had so many opportunities to break out of the cycle and didn't, and I left the theater not feeling satisfied. a lot of the ending wasn't satisfying for me. once your antagonist can affect literally any part of your perception, nothing means anything anymore. it can all be fabricated, like the whole fake-out. there is no way to purposely work toward a goal if none of our actions are certain. i would have appreciated if there were some kind of tell that rose could use to determine if she were hallucinating, at least once. she's intelligent enough to know at least a few methods to test if youre hallucinating, i'd have liked to see her use her expertise a little more throughout. in all i do really love this movie, the tension and scares worked well for me and i really felt for rose and joel. i recommend it to folks, but its not without its shortcomings.

I definitely thought of It Follows and The Ring while watching this movie. The Ring especially, when Rose's ex tells her that no one has survived this curse for longer than 4 days & Rose comments how it's been 4 days for her.

This movie scared the hell out of me, loved every moment and really appreciated the social commentary too!

This was genuinely one of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen, it’s one of those movies that I loved but I could never recommend it to anyone else

I have such high respect for this movie. Someone finally managed to make a movie where it's centered around people who struggle with their mental health, but they aren't the antagonists; fully showing that it in fact doesn't have anything to do with them as people. The subtlety of the smiles throughout the entire movie and how it ties back to the point is phenomenal as well. No matter how someone appears as to the waiter at a restaurant, coworkers at their workplace, or even to their own family members, nobody will ever truly know what goes on inside their head until they get to the point that a lot of the movie's victims were before they died. Written off as insane and just a ticking time bomb that's destined to explode instead of a living, breathing person that deserved the help they didn't receive. One of my favorite details, too, is how very early on, Rose's therapist says that many people will never fully heal from their trauma. At the very end where Rose confronts her mother, she makes the steps in order to start healing after so long of holding that guilt with her. And in her first fight with the entity, nobody can blame her for "not putting up a fight" because dear god did she fight to live through that. But the way she couldn't escape the house and was brought back even after she got away and had faced the biggest turning point in her life really reiterates how difficult it is to live with trauma and, as associated, the mental disorders caused by trauma. How horrific it is to be taken back to that one or more moment(s) in time as if you had never left when you thought that it was finally over. As someone with that reality, I highly applaud everyone involved in the making of this movie. Trauma is an incredibly powerful thing and sometimes it can pull you under when you thought you had moved from that period in your life. They encapurted it perfectly here. On top of everything else, the actor playing Rose did an outstanding job at portraying that slow and incredibly painful decent. I could feel myself losing my mind with her and I don't think I've ever been that immersed in a movie. Overall? Majorly recommend. The sound design is expertly done and while the gore seems to be further down budget wise, it doesn't lower the quality in the slightest (in my opinion at least). More or less, just be safe if you to have trauma and/or you struggle with your mental health. It's intense but in a very non-exploitive way.

Chelsea your hair looks SO GOOD

It is hard for me to be genuinely SCARED but I was definitely creeped out and on edge the whole time. Although funny enough, my girlfriend and I watched this with a friend over Discord and no one had talked for quite a while and one point our friend chimed in to say something and we damn near SCREAMED because we were so on edge and forgot we were on Discord. 🤣

I kinda look at the ending like this: In the medical field, a cut (one involving stitches, at least) is treated specifically so that it doesn't leave a scar, otherwise that scar is permanent, leaving a vulnerable area on your skin. Likewise, not dealing with your trauma early on and in a healthy way will never allow those wounds to heal. Rose had the trauma of leaving her mom to die, but never dealt with it. When she tried to do so on her own, it wasn't in a healthy way with her therapist, and so those "scars" remained, which the entity exploited.

I love the scenes in her head (The Computer & Phone Call) The ending is upsetting for me

I wasn't really scared of smile but the thing that scared me was that God damn scene when the ex runs at her full speed

As someome who wasn't scared by this movie, I can still say that posession is undoubtedly one of the scariest themes in horror because it's genuinely believeable. For me, the more something can be compared to reality, the more scary it is.

as someone who struggles with severe mental illness, I loved how you spoke about mental illness and appreciate the care you put into that discussion. right now i'm going through a traumatic family situation and i'm severely struggling, and on top of that i'm also a college student. I stopped giving a fuck about hiding my emotions/how my mental illness physically manifests and just letting myself feel how i feel, and i've literally had professors tell me i'm being difficult, i had a professor tell me to drop his class bc my "sadness" was bringing the classroom morale down, was told by a family member that i'm a big baby for being upset, and was flat out called a miserable bitch by one of my classmates for walking out of my class in tears. my mother didn't understand my mental illness' severity until recently, and the discussions we've been having about mental health and the expectation of "hiding" your mental health have been so touching and constructive. i sent her this podcast bc we were JUST talking about the themes that this movie/podcast touches on. i really need to see this movie soon! also, thank y'all for being such a comfort channel for me during this time!! i find myself feeling safe and comfortable whenever i watch a video from this channel, and i really appreciate the content y'all make! keep it up!

I loved the dialogue about psychology conditions and never would have expected it to go that way. Also loved the shots from above the city, gave a feeling of always being watched and reminded me of The Shining

i definitely feel like my viewing experience had an impact on how i felt about this movie for sure. i was lucky to have a literally empty theater for it and i loved it! best experience tbh

I went to the theater and had no idea what to watch, and I chose smile, and MY GOSH, I didn't expect that to be so terrifying!!

I am so glad I only saw a teaser trailer because the scene with her sister literally had me jump back and pushing myself into my chair out of fear. Have not been that scared in a while!

I appreciated how Smile didn’t try to do some ham handed exposition dump to label, explain or otherwise set ground rules for the entity.