The first seven minutes of “Smile 2” is the most I’ve ever smiled watching a horror movie — if only for the reason that the movie made me do it.
Paramount has released the intro of its horror sequel “Smile 2” onto the web for free. But in order to watch it, the website hosting the clip forces you to smile into your webcam the entire time.
And yes, it really works (and stops working if you drop the grin). Try it for yourself here; the website requires age verification.
To do it, you’ll have to activate your web camera on your laptop or phone, and in a small picture-in-picture window alongside the film clip, you’ll see your own face smiling back at you. If you stop smiling like a maniac for even a moment, the playback pauses and turns to black, with a message that says “Keep Smiling.”
You don’t literally have to have a big, toothy, creepy grin on your face for all seven minutes — a smirk should do it — but the facial recognition is pretty sharp and is lightning quick to pause the video if your expression droops ever so slightly.
The clip is not exactly safe for work — but that’s primarily for how insane you’ll look should a coworker peer over the cubicle walls. Also the blood.
After several weeks in theaters, “Smile 2” (October 18, 2024) this weekend crossed the $100 million mark, with its box office gross sitting at $109.7 million worldwide. The film’s predecessor managed to gross $217.4 million, which put a big smile on CEO Brian Robbins’ face. It was quite a pleasant surprise considering the first “Smile” was originally intended for a streaming-only release on Paramount+. The OG “Smile” turned into a sleeper hit thanks to some creepy, viral marketing stunts, like dead-eyed models sitting behind home plate at MLB games smiling directly into the camera.
Parker Finn wrote and directed the sequel, as he did with the first “Smile.” This one operated on a much larger scale, telling the story of a massive pop star afflicted with the smiling demon, all while she battles her own personal demons of fame and alcoholism. The first-seven-minutes clip though shows some entirely different characters and a man’s desperate attempt to try to pass off the demons pursuing him.
Naomi Scott leads a cast in “Smile 2” that also includes Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Ray Nicholson, Dylan Gelula, Raúl Castillo, and Kyle Gallner.
