‘Smile 2’ ending explained!

In 2022, Smile delivered a horror hit with a core message about facing personal traumas and working on mental health. However, its ending somewhat undercut this theme, choosing one last scare over true resolution. Smile 2, on the other hand, steers clear of grand ideas, focusing more on pure horror. Despite this shift, the sequel’s ending may still leave viewers scratching their heads.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the endings of Smile and Smile 2.

Smile 2 doesn’t waste time rehashing the original movie’s setup, as the rules for the supernatural entity have already been established. For a refresher: in Smile, the terrifying force feeds on the emotional distress of traumatized victims. It torments them by appearing as loved ones or strangers in terrifying visions, gradually pushing its hosts to the edge until they break. When it fully consumes its host, the entity forces them to die by suicide in front of someone else, transferring its curse to a new victim. Although Smile hinted that confronting trauma might defeat the creature, it ultimately suggested suicide as the only escape, a dark and disturbing conclusion.

The original movie also reveals that murder in front of a witness can pass the curse to someone else, freeing the current host from their nightmare. In Smile 2, a new character, Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), and her ally Morris (Peter Jacobson), introduce an intriguing twist. Morris, whose brother previously fell victim to the curse, thinks that if he kills Skye, it might also kill the creature within her. However, despite her reluctance, Skye agrees to his risky plan after relentless mental torture – but sadly, her resolve comes too late.

Is Anything Real for Skye in Smile 2?

At one point, Skye tries to defeat the creature by injecting herself with a drug that stops her heart. She believes she’s won, only to discover that much of her reality has been an illusion. She suddenly finds herself on stage at the opening of her concert tour – her entire final battle was fabricated by the entity. This shattering revelation crushes Skye, and she loses all hope, submitting entirely to the creature’s control.

The twist raises many questions about what’s real and what’s been a hallucination. Skye’s mother, for example, is still alive, meaning that Skye’s “murder” of her mother, her hospital escape, meeting with Morris, and even confronting the creature were all fabricated memories. Ever since Skye’s concussion, the entity manipulated her perceptions to keep her occupied until her final concert appearance.

Things are even murkier with Gemma (Dylan Gelula), Skye’s friend. Skye thinks she’s been meeting Gemma, but it’s suggested these interactions were also false memories. This illusion may have started even before Skye’s head injury, implying that Gemma might never have responded to Skye’s plea for help in the first place. And since Gemma isn’t seen in the concert audience, it’s likely she wasn’t involved in any real way.

Setting Up a Smile 3

The sequel hints at even more terrifying possibilities for the creature’s powers. While previously it only infected one new victim at a time, Skye’s stage death suggests it can now jump to multiple people who witness it. This opens two disturbing possibilities: either the creature can now spread across multiple hosts at once, or it can use the crowd to reproduce, spawning numerous entities that could each carry on the cycle independently.

Finn’s intention is clear – Smile 2 isn’t just a standalone story but a direct continuation, building on the storyline from the first film. In Smile 2, Skye contracts the curse from her drug dealer, Lewis (Lukas Gage), who himself inherited it from Joel (Kyle Gallner), the officer cursed in the original film. This implies that Smile 3 may be necessary to conclude the cycle, ideally offering a way to defeat the creature while reckoning with its terrifying new reach.

By expanding the mythology of the entity and dropping hints at a terrifying future, Smile 2 sets the stage for what could be a haunting and high-stakes trilogy finale.