Morris is one of the strangest additions to the story of Smile 2, and here is everything that we know about him, including his backstory, his plan in the sequel, and more. Most of Smile 2 centers on pop sensation Skye Riley, with a complicated series of events that took place after the end of the original Smile leading to her becoming possessed by the smile curse. However, Skye Riley isn’t alone in her fight against the demonic enтιтy, as she manages to meet Morris throughout the events of Smile 2, although his motivations and true nature are questionable.
Smile 2 takes the story and horror of the original Smile and puts it on a much bigger scale, with it haunting one of the world’s biggest pop stars rather than a single doctor. Throughout the events of Smile 2, knowledge of the smile enтιтy becomes more widespread, with Skye Riley desperately looking for help as she attempts to rid herself of the monster. Although Skye believes that she is being stalked by someone due to her involvement in Lewis’ death, the man who is tracking her turns out to be Morris, something that almost helps Skye near the end of Smile 2.
Morris Is The Brother Of A Previous Smile Victim
From Before The Events Of The First Film
Although he may be mistaken for a returning character from the original cast of Smile, Morris is a character who is first introduced in Smile 2, with him having a mᴀssive impact on the story. Morris has been hunting the smile enтιтy since long before Skye Riley became infected by it, with him just so happening to catch up to it during the events of Smile 2.
As Morris explains to Skye upon meeting her in a bar, he is actually the brother of someone who previously was a victim of the smile enтιтy. Morris explains that his brother was eight victims before Skye, and he has been tracking it ever since. Morris’ brother tried explaining what was going on, but Morris eventually didn’t believe him. However, Morris eventually ripped off his own jaw with a crowbar when the smile enтιтy killed him, with the police ruling the death a suicide.
The death of Morris’ brother led him to believe that the enтιтy was real, although he still had a lot of questions about it. Morris explains to Skye that he isn’t sure if the enтιтy is a cosmic being, a demon, or a supernatural figure, but that he has seen the effect that it has on people. Morris has been tracking the enтιтy since before the events of the first Smile, with him only catching up to it when Skye Riley becomes infected.
How Morris Knew The Smile Enтιтy Was After Skye
He Found Her Number In Lewis’ Phone
Although Morris was chasing the smile demon before the original Smile took place, he managed to figure out that it was haunting Skye during the events of Smile 2. According to Morris’ story, he has been tracking the enтιтy ever since his brother died. Morris says that Riley is the eighth victim after his brother, meaning that he tracked it throughout every victim that has been seen in the Smile franchise so far, including Laura, Rose, and Joel. Unfortunately, he was too late each time, with Skye being the first person that Joel was able to reach before the smile victim was able to kill her.
Morris explains that he had been tracking Joel, but he wasn’t able to reach him before Joel gets killed in Smile 2‘s opening scene. Morris then began tracking Lewis, although Lewis’ death in front of Skye meant that she became possessed. Skye ran off before Morris learned that the demon had been transferred to her, leading him on another chase. However, Morris managed to find Lewis’ phone and go through it. He tells Skye that, since she was the last person Lewis texted before his death, he thought she may have been the one who watched him die.
Throughout Smile 2, Skye receives text messages from an unknown number that imply that the sender knows about her involvement in Lewis’ death. While this leads Skye to believe that someone dangerous is after her, it turns out that this was Morris all along. Morris got her phone number from Lewis’ phone and reached out in hopes of getting to her before the smile enтιтy did, something that he successfully does in Smile 2.
Morris’ Plan To Kill The Smile Enтιтy Explained
He Has To Kill Skye To Kill The Enтιтy
Upon reaching Skye, Morris explains that he has a complicated plan to kill the smile enтιтy for good, although it won’t be easy for Skye. Morris tells Skye that he believes that the smile enтιтy will die if its host dies before the enтιтy kills them. Then, if there isn’t another living host for the smile enтιтy to transfer to, it should vanish. Thus, Morris wants to temporarily stop Skye’s heart, wait for the smile enтιтy to leave, and then revive her once the demon is gone.
Skye learns more about Morris’ plan at the end of the film. In the climax of Smile 2, Skye and Morris arrive at an abandoned Pizza Hut. Morris takes Skye into a freezer where she sees various pieces of medical equipment. According to Morris, he wants her to inject herself with a sH๏τ that will slow her heart rate until it stops. The freezer will allow her brain to last longer without taking brain damage, with Morris waiting for the smile enтιтy to leave before he runs in and revives her. While Skye initially goes along with this plan, the smile enтιтy ends up having different plans.
Was Morris A Real Person Or Part Of The Curse?
The Ending Leaves Things Vague
Right before Morris and Skye’s plan comes to fruition, Morris randomly leaves the freezer, giving the smile enтιтy time to appear and attack Skye. This implies that Morris may have been part of the curse, as it was previously established that the smile enтιтy can create illusions of people for its victims. It is possible that the smile enтιтy used Morris to give Skye hope, luring her to a place where she could be attacked, only for her to be fully taken over so that she can die in front of the crowd at the end of Smile 2.
Morris’ Plan Could Be The Answer In Smile 3
He May Have The Secret To Ending The Smile Curse
Smile 3 has been confirmed and is set to begin filming in 2025 (via MovieWeb). Among the many questions left by the end of Smile 2 were if Morris’s plan would actually work, since he didn’t get the chance to kill Skye and test his theory. With Smile 3 definitely in the works and the franchise becoming a trilogy, the next movie provides the perfect opportunity to prove once and for all if Morris was righ, and if the Smile enтιтy will indeed be stopped if its current host is killed by external means.
However, the question really isn’t if it will work, but whether it should. A key reason the demonic enтιтy in Smile is so terrifying is that it appears basically unstoppable. Introducing a confirmed way to end the curse would significantly diminish the dread it causes. This has happened before with horror franchises, most notably The Ring. In both the Japanese and American versions of The Ring, the ‘inescapable’ curse could be avoided if those who viewed the video that kills those who watch it in 7 days make a copy of the tape.
This created problems further down the line in The Ring franchise, problems which future Smile movies could also run into if it’s decided that Morris’s plan would work. The movies in The Ring future after the first either had to retcon the way to escape the curse (such as was the case in The Ring 2), or they became convoluted narratives that got too hung up on when the latest victims would find out how to escape, then focus on their attempts to do so instead of the horror (as was the case in 2017’s Rings). If Morris is right about how to kill the enтιтy, future Smile movies could become overly focused on those afflicted with the curse trying to avoid being killed by those who want to stop the enтιтy altogether, instead of focusing on the enтιтy itself.
In some ways, Smile would be playing it safer if it turns out Morris’s idea was simply false hope. However, it’s also possible that having a way to stop the Smile enтιтy could help the franchise, especially if it means the person afflicted has to die (as it will force the central character to willingly become a sacrificial lamb). Ultimately, Smile 3 will provide the answers, but it will have to decide one way or another if Morris was right about how to kill the Smile enтιтy.