Horror movies are exciting, suspenseful, and provide adrenaline rushes to the viewer — all of which make this genre of movies so addicting. Fans go for the fear, the jumpscares, and the thrill of these movies.

Prior to watching this movie, I had very high expectations. The creators of “Smile” did an amazing job with the trailers and advertisements that showcase the sinister smiles, gore, and jump scares. While the trailers advertised this horrifying masterpiece of a movie, the final film failed to reach these expectations by a drastic amount. The jumpscares were unfulfilling, as they were merely people smiling with a loud sound effect. The scares were also poorly timed and not at all frightening.

“Smile,” a 2022 psychological horror film, starring Sosie Bacon, focuses on a therapist, Rose, whose job is to consult with a hysterical patient. This patient claims to see haunting smiles everywhere after witnessing a terrible suicide days prior. During this consultation, the patient commits suicide, and then Rose starts to experience similar disturbing and unnatural smiles.

I believe that horror films should have a complex plot — one that leaves you thinking and scared for hours after seeing it. “Smile” was just the opposite. Instead of the fast-moving plot that many movies have, “Smile” took its time to write out the plot and gave too much background information, instead of jumping right in. Though this could be viewed as a positive feature, I found that after a while it was very unnecessary and boring.

Not only did the beginning have a slow pace, but the end did as well. The final scenes of “Smile” were very rushed, and the movie ended just as quickly as it started. The whole of the movie did not piece together as I thought it would. And don't get me started on how ridiculous the ending was. There was a huge mood shift that came out of nowhere, and it took a moment to get past the disbelief and disappointment that the whole movie led up to.

Due to the lack of a complex plot and jumpscares, I did not experience any adrenaline rushes or feelings of excitement, which is what I look for in horror movies. That being said, “Smile” lacked many of the aspects a horror film needs to acquire for it to be enjoyable. The film had me leaving the theater unsatisfied, longing for a better plot and better jumpscares.