9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (2024)

9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (1)

In one of the all-time best years for the horror movie genre, 2022 granted fans the toothy surprise Smile – the feature-length debut from writer and director Parker Finn, based on his short Laura Hasn't Slept. Despite its familiar gimmick, it turned out to be a great horror movie that explores grief and trauma, thanks in part to Sosie Bacon's performance as a psychiatrist who becomes attached to a deadly entity that makes itself known by its menacing grin.

Inevitably, it spawned one of the most anticipated upcoming horror movies in all of the 2024 movie schedule, in the form of the Naomi Scott-starring Naomi Scott-starring Smile 2. The original is available with a Paramount+ subscription or a Hulu subscription, but there are other great horror movies like Smile that you can watch while waiting to see where the franchise goes next.

9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (2)

It Follows (2015)

Director: David Robert Mitchell

Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist

What it’s about: After a disturbing sexual encounter, a young woman becomes haunted by a shapeshifting entity only she can see.

Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: Featuring a protagonist who inherits a deadly curse passed down through morally challenging means (in this case sexual intercourse), It Follows (one of the best horror movies on Netflix) is a perfect match-up with Smile, despite a quieter tone and differing themes.

How to watch It Follows:

CINEMABLEND NEWSLETTER

Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News

9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (3)

The Ring (2002)

Director: Gore Verbinski

Starring: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson

What it’s about: A reporter investigates a series of disturbing deaths related to a mysterious videotape.

Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: An even more esteemed, terrifying movie about a woman struggling to get rid of a deadly chain curse is The Ring, which is inspired by the acclaimed Japanese horror movie, Ringu.

How to watch The Ring:

9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (4)

Drag Me To Hell (2009)

Director: Sam Raimi

Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long

What it’s about: After rejecting an elderly woman's request for a loan extension, a woman falls prey to a demonic curse.

Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: One of Sam Raimi's best movies, Drag Me to Hell, is yet another freaky curse movie, but also one of the more humorous of the bunch, with a rare scream queen role for star Alison Lohman.

How to watch Drag Me to Hell:

9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (5)

Hereditary (2018)

Director: Ari Aster

Starring: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff

What it’s about: After a tragic loss, a family's suffering only worsens as they become plagued by a series of unexplainable circumstances.

Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: At its core, Smile is a meditation on the harmful rippling effect of traumatic experiences, which is also an essential theme of Ari Aster's acclaimed debut shocker, and one of the best A24 horror movies to date, the grief-filled Hereditary.

How to watch Hereditary:

9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (6)

The Babadook (2014)

Director: Jennifer Kent

Starring: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman

What it’s about: A widowed single mother believes that she and her young son are being taunted by an unsettling children's book character.

Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: The entity in Smile is similar to the titular villain from The Babadook (one of the scariest modern horror movie villains) in that it serves as a metaphorical representation of the protagonist's struggles with grief.

How to watch The Babadook:

9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (7)

Umma (2022)

Director: Iris K. Shim

Starring: Sandra Oh, Fivel Stewart

What it’s about: A Korean-born farmer's relationship with her daughter is threatened when the delivery of her own mother's remains brings upsetting memories to the surface.

Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: The most important themes from Smile are intergenerational trauma and child abuse, which are also prevalent in Umma, from producer Sam Raimi of Evil Dead infamy.

How to watch Umma:

9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (8)

Director: Mike Flanagan

Starring: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites

What it’s about: A brother and sister try to prove that their disturbing childhood was the work of a mysterious antique mirror.

Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: Protagonists facing their childhood trauma is also the central focus of one of writer and director Mike Flanagan's best movies, Oculus, which, like Smile, also has a startling and upsetting finale.

How to watch Oculus:

9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (9)

The Invisible Man (2020)

Director: Leigh Whannell

Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge

What it’s about: A woman suspects that her supposedly late, tech billionaire husband has figured out to way to taunt her without being seen.

Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: Gaslighting is another acknowledged theme in Smile and one of the central themes of Blumhouse's frightening and clever modernized reimagining of the Universal Monster movie classic, The Invisible Man.

How to watch The Invisible Man:

9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (10)

Malignant (2021)

Director: James Wan

Starring: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson

What it’s about: A woman begins to suffer from terrifying visions that, much to her horror, resemble actual murders.

Why it is a great movie to check out if you like Smile: Gaslighting and abuse are also prevalent themes in James Wan's tribute to Giallo slashers, Malignant, which, like Smile, also involves a protagonist forced to face her past amid a series of strange, deadly occurrences and has a wild final act.

How to watch Malignant:

Hopefully, these horror movie recommendations put a smile on your face and a chill down your spine.

9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (11)

Jason Wiese

Content Writer

Jason Wiese writes feature stories for CinemaBlend. His occupation results from years dreaming of a filmmaking career, settling on a "professional film fan" career, studying journalism at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO (where he served as Culture Editor for its student-run print and online publications), and a brief stint of reviewing movies for fun. He would later continue that side-hustle of film criticism on TikTok (@wiesewisdom), where he posts videos on a semi-weekly basis. Look for his name in almost any article about Batman.

More about streaming news

Jake Paul’s Manager Opens Up About Why The Stakes Are So High For The YouTuber’s Fight With Mike TysonHow Dave Grohl Is Reportedly Trying To Save His Marriage Amid Child Scandal

Latest

New On Netflix, Disney+, And More: 5 Streaming Shows And Movies To Watch This Week (October 14 - 20)
See more latest►

TOPICS

Most Popular
Apparently Jason Reitman Stood In For A John Belushi Scene After Matt Wood Had To Be Rushed To The Hospital On The First Night Of Filming Saturday Night
I Didn't Think I'd Ever Enjoy Marvel As Much Again After Endgame. Then Agatha All Along Changed That
32 A-List Celebrities Who Have Appeared In TV Commercials
Love Is Blind Season 7 Is So Messy, But There's One Bright Spot That I Am Totally Loving
Finally, The Rock Has Come Back To WWE, And I Still Can't Figure Out His Absurd People's Championship Belt
The Platform 2 Ending Explained: Breaking Down What Happened And What It All Means
I Saw Megalopolis After It Was Roasted By Moviegoers And Critics, And I Don’t Think It Earns Its Negative Reputation
32 Things About The Lion King That Still Stick With Me Years Later
32 Great MCU Food Scenes
Joker: Folie À Deux Was Undoubtedly A Disaster, But One Thing Everyone Is Hating I Actually Loved
I Watched Terrifier 2 For The First Time, And I Need To Talk About The Part In The Horror Movie That Makes Zero Sense
9 Movies Like Smile And How To Watch Them (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Arielle Torp

Last Updated:

Views: 6398

Rating: 4 / 5 (41 voted)

Reviews: 80% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Arielle Torp

Birthday: 1997-09-20

Address: 87313 Erdman Vista, North Dustinborough, WA 37563

Phone: +97216742823598

Job: Central Technology Officer

Hobby: Taekwondo, Macrame, Foreign language learning, Kite flying, Cooking, Skiing, Computer programming

Introduction: My name is Arielle Torp, I am a comfortable, kind, zealous, lovely, jolly, colorful, adventurous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.