There's no question that any material Zacuto releases about cameras is going to create a stir. Actually, anytime anyone releases anything about cameras people usually get very defensive if their favorite camera isn't at the top of the list. We already ran a poll about which cameras were the favorite for No Film School readers, and if you happened to be at the shootout in person at one of the screenings, the results are pretty interesting. I've already given my thoughts on the shootout, and today with the release of Part Two, you'll be able to finally match up your favorite scenes with what cameras they were shot on. Check out a trailer below:
I won't spoil more of the test for anyone before they see it, but the empirical tests were not surprising to me and to a lot of other people at the screenings. The cameras that we expected to be at the top were at the top with few exceptions. Seeing it on the big screen was a completely different experience than seeing it online, and I have to say that it made certain cameras seem a lot closer than they might have seemed otherwise. Each scene was picked as someone's favorite in the screening we were at, and that just proves above all else that subjectivity plays a huge role in deciding what is aesthetically pleasing to different people.
Head on over to Zacuto to watch Part Two by clicking the link below.
Some of the best horror movies ever made take something innocent and unassuming and make it scary as all heck. Toys? Chairs? Cars? Or, perhaps the scariest, regular human people? You name it; there's likely a spooky movie out there that's gonna make you afraid of something you never saw coming. The latest on this list of scaries? Why, the act of smiling, of course.
Paramount'sSmile franchise has taken the world by storm, turning one of the purest expressions of human joy into a nefarious act of fear. Where Parker Finn's first Smile followed the laid-back, traumatized therapist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), Smile 2 stepped it up a notch on every level with the tortured pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott). Fans of the first Smile were treated to escalation of scale in every way and delivered one heck of an ending to show for it.
The ending isn't particularly vague, but the Smile monster (or "The Entity" as we know them as) works in mysterious ways, potentially leaving the casual viewer with a question or two once the last terrifying frame cuts to the credits. If you were left frowning with questions, we're here for you to break down what exactly happened at the end of Smile 2.
The Rules of the Smile Monster, The Entity
Smile
Paramount
If there's any human notion the mysterious Entity haunting the psyche of our heroes in the Smile-verse knows, it's that trauma begets.
The basic rule of The Entity is that it lingers in its victim's brain, essentially gaslighting them with a false reality that drives them mad. Once you're infected—or, perhaps, possessed—by the entity, the world around you starts to crumble, and you start to more-or-less hallucinate terrible things at every turn. Only The Entity's victim is able to see these haunted images (often times stranges creepily smiling at them), making it super weird and uncomfortable for anyone that might be in their presence freaking out.
In a sense, The Entity is ruining your life up until your final moments.
The "final moments" of it all is a key factor to The Entity's terror. See, the way the entity possesses new hosts is once it's current host is driven completely mad, they take on the "Creepy Smile" (coined by No Film School, LLC) they become suicidal, and anyone that sees their totally F'd up suicide is now The Entity's host.
Scary stuff!
'Smile 2' Premise
Smile 2
Paramount
So, a banger pop star named Skye Riley is possessed by The Smile Entity. How did we get here? Why is our pop diva icon tortured so?
Jumping off from the events of Smile, Smile 2 opens in an expertly crafted one-shot cold open that could work as a standalone short film. At the end of Smile, Kyle Gallner's nice guy cop Joel is possessed by The Entity when he bears witness to his ex-lover Rose committing Creepy Smile hari-kari after her feature-length mental anguish. Poor Joel.
In the opening scene of Smile 2, we check back in with Joel, who is strategically attempting to pass off and ultimately kill The Smile Entity for good in a ring of shady, bad-guy drug lords. His plan almost goes as planned, until Lewis (Lukas Gage) stumbles in and The Smile entity is passed to him.
Cut to our heroine Skye Riley, recovering from a tough time after a tragic accident killing her partner and leaving her to survive and bear the guilt. She is (mostly) sober, chugging bottles of water in one long gulp to curb drinking, but still uses a bit of Vicodin to deal with her trauma and anxiety from both her tragedy as well as the unbearable weight of being a very famous popstar. And guess who she gets her Vicodin from? You'll never guess, unless you guessed Lewis. It's Lewis she buys her Vicodin from.
And while we're guessing, yes. You're right. Lewis Creepy Smile kills himself, passing The Entity to Skye. This induces a terrible time for Skye, seeing visions of her ex-boyfriend who perished in the car accident, as well as seeing fans at shows and her backup dancing ensemble Creepy Smiling and acting super weird at her.
How does it end? What does it mean? Let's talk.
'Smile 2' Ending Breakdown
Now that our inciting Smile incident has occurred, we're in it for the ringer now.
As Skye is processing her previous with the additional baggage of The Entity's gaslighting ways, she finds solace in reconnecting a fractured friendship with her former BFF, the ever-charming and down-to-Earth Gemma (Dylan Gelula). She comes over for a sleepover, they hang out, etcetera, and Gemma pulls through for her bud full-stop.
At least, so we think—it wouldn't be a Smile without some proper gaslighting from the monster behind the smiles.
It's revealed near the end, close to Skye's big concert, that Gemma hasn't spoken to her since their friend breakup. Gemma was in Skye's head the whole time. Dang. This also comes with the reveal that the time passed in Smile 2—which, in Skye's head, was weeks—wasn't so many weeks after all. This takes us to the big concert, where, well...
Yes, you're right. The Smile Entity does not only Skye, but the entire audience dirty, as hundreds to thousands of people watch Skye Creepy Smile kill herself in front of them. And what does that mean? It means that now The Smile Entity has possessed everyone at the show. And that is not good!
With the recently announced Smile 3, we'll inevitably learn more about The Smile Entity's master plan and how the effects of possessing a mass group of victims plays out. Until then, just be safe out there. The Smile Entity is a bad... um... thing, and you never know when it could get you.
