Fun fact: I’ve never seen the first Smile, but for some reason this movie called to me. It’s amazing how much this horror movie leans into being a musical. The lead character is a pop singer, and there are several convincing full performances of songs with backup dancers and sets.
It’s also easy to believe that a musician with a history of addiction and bad behavior would have a hard time convincing her family and associates that their crazy behavior was coming from something other than drug abuse.
Also: The whole time I was watching I kept thinking of this:
Bonus Movie Frustration!
There’s a documentary called No Other Land, recorded before the October 7 attacks, that deals with Palestinians in a small village living under Israeli control. It’s been getting amazing reviews, but it doesn’t have a distribution deal so it’s very hard to find and watch. I went to a screening tonight, and I was confused; the subtitles didn’t seem to connect to the actions on screen. About ten minutes into the film, the lights came up and they announced that they were going to try and fix the titles. When they finally restarted the film, there was no sound. At one point you could see the volume control appear and get turned up all the way, and the audience laughed. Not a great thing to happen to a serious film. Eventually they cancelled the showing and issued vouchers. Bummer.