The following contains spoilers for Smile 2, now streaming on Paramount+Smile 2‘s ending sets up Smile 3, but that film could lose the strongest aspects of the franchise. Smile 2 was a critical and commercial hit, building on the success of the previous film by shifitng the story from Sosie Bacon’s Dr. Rose Cotter to the globally-known pop-star Skye Riley. Infected with the same seemingly demonic enтιтy that preys on trauma and spreads through horrific acts of self-harm, Riley’s arc was unique to Rose’s but consistent with the rules and themes of the first film. The result was a compelling companion piece to the original that amplified the horror.

This includes Smile 2‘s ending, which takes the dangers posed by the nameless and horrifying Enтιтy and amplifies it on a colossal scale. On one level, this is an exciting development that continues to broaden the scope of the series and introduce new potential heights for filmmakers like Parker Finn to take the series. However, that larger scale also risks costing a prospective Smile 3 one of the most effective elements of the previous films, which helped keep a character focus at the core of the steadily expanding story.

Smile 2’s Ending Indicates That Smile 3 Will Be Much Bigger

Smile 2 Teases A Global Larger Scope For The Future Of The Enтιтy

Smile 2‘s ending sets the stage for a potentially global scope for Smile 3, an exciting development that risks the most losing the personal focus that are the most effective scares in the franchise. Smile 2 ends with Skye Riley’s efforts to stop the curse thwarted by the malicious enтιтy at the center of the series. This results in her possession while on stage at a concert and subsequently her death, potentially spreading the curse to the thousands of fans who witness the event in person. This sets up a prospective Smile 2 to go even bigger.

That’s an exciting prospect on a certain level, as it ensures Smile 3 wouldn’t be beholden to the limits of the first two films. That would also continue the natural progression of the series, which debuted with the 2020 short film Laura Hasn’t Slept. Set entirely in a therapist’s office, Smile escalated that focus to a doctor’s small city-wide investigation. By contrast, Smile 2 embraced the pop star elements of Riley’s life to great effect by escalating the scares and setting to New York City. Smile 3 could go even bigger, but could lose a real strength in the process.

Smile Is Most Effective When It’s Small-Scale

Smile‘s тιԍнт Character Focus Is A Real Strength Of The Series

One of Smiles‘ most effective tools as a horror story is the way it forces a single person (and the audience seeing the film from their perspective) to grapple with delusions and visions caused by the Enтιтy. When reality itself is untrustworthy, a natural sense of anxiety and paranoia is imbued into every plot development or character choice. That тιԍнт character focus in Smile was refined in Smile 2, with Riley’s attempts to overcome her addictions and grief underscoring each of the Enтιтy’s attempts to psychologically break her. Smile 3 going to big could ris losing that.

By potentially infecting countless people at the conclusion of Smile 2, Smile 3 could face a more large-scale outbreak of demon-induced self-harm. This could force the film to take a larger scale focus on humanity as it grapples with that, which in turn could cost the film the тιԍнтer character focus of the previous entries in the series. The Enтιтy’s attempts to maintain control over that many people may strain any single character’s focus, meaning the Enтιтy could stop being such a personal threat and becomes a more existential concern.

Smile 3 Needs To Keep A тιԍнт Character Focus To Remain Effective

Smile 3 Can’t Lose The Qualities That Made Smile And Smile 2 So Compelling

Smile 2 indicated that Director/Writer Parker Finn knows how to maintain a larger-scale story while retaining a тιԍнтer character focus. Despite being bigger in almost every way compared to Smile, Smile 2 retained an impressive amount of character development and exploration with Riley. Her personal dramas were intrinsic to the plot, and her personal arc felt complete even as it built to a seemingly inevitable conclusion. It was a bigger story, but Smile 2 felt deeply connected to the core themes of the series and the way it scares audiences.

Smile 3 presents a more unique challenge, as the potentially larger scale might make that a difficult prospect. However, a potential follow-up could find ways to keep characters isolated, potentially shifting focus to a setting largely removed from modern culture or shifting the spotlight characters who purposefully remain off the grid (and therefore far away from the Enтιтy’s grasp). A potential follow-up to Smile 2 has a lot of room to build the franchise out given the conclusion of the 2024 film, but it needs to make sure it doesn’t lose the qualities that elevated it in the first place.