History YMMV / Smile2022

* OneSceneWonder: Creator/CaitlinStasey as Laura in the scene that starts the plot rolling. She really does convey the horror and despair of an otherwise intelligent and decent young woman who knows that the curse has doomed her. Her desperate use of YouHaveToBelieveMe with Rose makes you feel for her plight, one that Rose will soon find herself in. She also ''nails'' the unsettling calm and [[TheUnSmile creepy smile]] during her suicide right after, selling you the horror of the situation.
** Similarly, Rob Morgan as Robert Talley in his role as [[spoiler: the only survivor of the curse, as his murder of someone else allowed it to pass to the witness of the murder, not suicide. Upon realizing that he's speaking with the person the demon is ''currently'' haunting, his reaction is perfectly over-the-top desperate to get the '''''hell''''' away from her!]]

* SpecialEffectsFailure: [[spoiler: The CGI during the hallucination of Dr. Desai peeling off his face is brief, but fairly unconvincing]].

* TheyCopiedItNowItSucks: A criticism of the film is that it borrows—or outright steals—various elements from other horror films such as ''Film/ItFollows'' and ''Film/TheRing'' and plays them off for diminishing returns. It also owes quite a bit to ''Film/{{Hereditary}}'', recreating two pivotal scenes almost shot-for-shot. Even the central idea of a shape-shifting evil force that makes its presence known with creepy smiles is not original to this movie, as it was done before in ''Film/TruthOrDare2018''. The way the entity warps people's perceptions of reality is quite similar to the hotel room from ''[[Film/FourteenOhEight 1408]]'' and the cursed mirror from ''Film/{{Oculus}}''. Even the concept of a monster representing repressed trauma and guilt was seen in ''Film/HisHouse'', though that film was more ambiguous in its take.

** Is it possible that the Entity [[spoiler: ''let'' Robert get away, because it somehow knew that it would lead to Rose?]]
*** Considering that [[spoiler: Robert himself learned about it because it had happened in the past, it's likely that the entity itself doesn't care, or is forced to pass to those who witness.]]
*** It could’ve just been a dream. There was nothing to suggest it was definitely an hallucination.
** Joel's presence in the finale: [[spoiler: did he just [[TooDumbToLive follow Rose despite knowing her plan]], or did the entity make her hallucinate the call and manipulate her so that a witness would be present?]]
* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: The initial reactions to the trailer were wary due to the familiar premise and the {{Narm}} of a monster that presents itself through smiles. The film went on to have a positive critical and audience reception and a very strong box-office debut of $22.6 million, only dropping by 18% in its second weekend (it falls only behind ''[[Film/GetOut Get Out's]]'' 15% in terms of a second-weekend drop for a horror film).

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Just like Rose's mental state, this movie is a real downward spiral, not helped by much of the cast being uncooperative and unhelpful. [[spoiler:Rose's fiancé and sister are both a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter who immediately keep their distance from Rose for an act that they should have known was extremely unlike her (although her sister could be justified due to their mother's past and the birthday party fiasco). Joel is good to her and one of the few other characters who is remotely understanding but even then he's barely able to be of any help to her. The ''brutal'' DownerEnding especially makes the movie upsetting]].

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Just like Rose's mental state, this movie is a real downward spiral, not helped by much of the cast being uncooperative and unhelpful. [[spoiler:Rose's fiancé and sister are both a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter who immediately keep their distance from Rose for an act that they should have known was extremely unlike her (although her sister could be justified due to their mother's past and the birthday party fiasco). Joel is good to her and one of the few other characters who is remotely understanding but even then he's barely able to be of any help to her. The ''brutal'' DownerEnding especially makes the movie very upsetting as a whole to endure]].

* ParanoiaFuel: The hallucinations caused by the Smile entity. You can't entirely trust ''anything'' you hear or see, and it will gladly approach taking the form of people you know just to taunt you.

** Rose’s [[spoiler:nightmare about stabbing Carl]] is very over-the-top and made many theatergoers laugh their asses off. That said, many consider it to be one of the movie’s highlights, as it is one of only scenes in the film that seems to fully embrace the ridiculousness of its schlocky and narmy premise.

** Rose’s [[spoiler:nightmare about stabbing Carl]] is very over-the-top and made many theatergoers laugh their asses off. That said, many consider it to be one of the movie’s highlights, as it is one of only scenes in the film that seems to fully embrace the ridiculousness of the film’s schlocky and narmy premise.

** The scene where [[spoiler:Rose hallucinates stabbing a defenseless Carl in order for her to escape the curse while Dr. Desai watches in horror]]. What sounds like a decently horrifying scene on paper can quickly become humorous when [[spoiler:Carl starts laughing after Rose stabs him about twenty times. It gets even funnier due to Dr. Desai's over-the-top reaction to it and then he starts ''peeling his own face off'']], which comes right out of nowhere considering how it was already established that the Smile Entity’s MO was to present smiling figures to Rose.