Movie Review: 'Smile 2' nicely targets pop star fame with the terrific Naomi Scott

In an early scene in “Smile 2,” the fictional pop superstar Skye Riley is in her drug dealer's apartment. “Do you believe in weird stuff?” he asks her, between doing lines of coke.

You certainly will after this horror romp — writer-director Parker Finn's second movie that suddenly opens up the franchise with the promises of multiple directions in the future. Not for that drug dealer, though: He soon smiles at her demonically as he repeatedly slams a 35-pound gym weight into his head, making it hamburger.

“Smile 2” lands as unsettling grins are plastered on pumpkins and politicians alike as we approach Halloween and Election Day, and the psychotic, overly made-up leads of “Joker: Folie à Deux” have been putting up a brave face at their terrible box-office numbers.

So it's the perfect time for a sequel to 2020's “Smile,” which bridged the gap between elevated art horror and straight-out, unapologetic slasher. Finn this time takes on fame, a better tonal fit than the generational trauma of the first. It's a meditation on breakdowns in the public eye, with a side dish of body horror.

We start six days after the last movie but they are barely connected — a single character for a few minutes — as we watch a demon that forces its victims to smile before meeting a gruesome end working its way into the low-level drug game.

The evil entity will eventually glom onto our heroine, Skye, a fictional Grammy-winning pop superstar akin to if Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus had a baby. We meet her a year after a horrific car crash she was in that killed her famous boyfriend and left her with a Vicodin addiction and rumors about whether she had anything to do with it. That drug dealer has now infected Skye, but she has no idea what's in store (or in score, the terrific work of Cristobal Tapia de Veer).

On thing to really beam about is leading lady Naomi Scott going for it all-out, all snot, smeared blood and wide-eyed, full on-fear. Scott manages to pour her humanity into the part — diva, whimpering, defiant, strung out, panicked. She even sings on the soundtrack — songs that are credible hits.

The smile demon collides with Skye as she's about to launch a comeback tour and the pressure is on. Finn is at his best here, mocking confessional TV interviews — a Drew Barrymore cameo, a nice touch — full of self-work and apologies: “I let you down and I promise this will never happen again.” Her management demands that she show up “smile and read from the teleprompter.” Skye's mom — on the payroll — is little help: “You need to stay hydrated,” she tells her after Skye is clearly in torment.

Finn has become a much more assured filmmaker and uses humor so well here, from nasty gangsters enjoying pumpkin Frappuccinos to our heroine Googling “Does vomit have DNA?” He's still fond of jump-scares and blood spurting and gross-out tricks, like a body dragged by a truck until it's just a smear with entrails. One delightful moment has Skye chased by demonic backup dancers, a Bob Fosse-meets-"Thriller" sequence.

Finn also has a ball putting his heroines into cringe-worthy situations. In the first movie, a murdered cat got bundled into a kid’s birthday present. In this one, it's a impromptu speech in front of music industry types that goes horrifically off the rails. He's got a deeper target: How do we quiet those voices in our heads that say we're no good?

Finn's script sometime lags as he searches for an ending for “Smile 2,” seemingly in two minds, before basically delivering both, kicking up dream sequences and alternate timelines like a squid pumping out ink to cover its tracks. Over two hours ends up being too long.

But he has found a great satirical target, given life to a third film easily and showcased another rising star to watch. That's a reason to, well, smile about.

“Smile 2,” a Paramount Pictures release that lands in movie theaters on Friday, is rated R for “strong bloody violent content, grisly images, language throughout and drug use.” Running time: 127 minutes. Three stars out of four.

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Rosemarie DeWitt, left, and Naomi Scott in a scene from "Smile 2." (Paramount Pictures via AP)

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Rosemarie DeWitt in a scene from "Smile 2." (Paramount Pictures via AP)

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Dylan Gelula, left, and Naomi Scott in a scene from "Smile 2." (Paramount Pictures via AP)

Lukas Gage, left, and Naomi Scott pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere for the film 'Smile 2' on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in London. (Photo by Thomas Krych/Invision/AP)

Naomi Scott poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere for the film 'Smile 2' on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Lukas Gage, left, and Naomi Scott pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere for the film 'Smile 2' on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in London. (Photo by Thomas Krych/Invision/AP)

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Lukas Gage in a scene from "Smile 2." (Paramount Pictures via AP)

Lukas Gage, from left, Naomi Scott and director Parker Finn pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere for the film 'Smile 2' on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Ray Nicholson in a scene from "Smile 2." (Paramount Pictures via AP)

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Naomi Scott in a scene from "Smile 2." (Paramount Pictures via AP)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A former Las Vegas-area Democratic elected official was sentenced Wednesday to serve at least 28 years in Nevada state prison for killing an investigative journalist who wrote articles critical of his conduct in office two years ago and exposed an intimate relationship with a female coworker.

A judge invoked sentencing enhancements for use of a deadly weapon and the age of the reporter to add eight years to the minimum 20-year sentence that a jury set in August after finding Robert Telles guilty of first-degree murder.

“The judge couldn't sentence him to any more time," Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said after telling reporters the sentence represented justice for the community. “She gave him the maximum.”

Telles, 47, testified in his defense at trial, denying he stabbed Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German to death in September 2022. But evidence against him was strong — including his DNA beneath German’s fingernails.

Telles was the administrator of a county office that handles unclaimed estate and probate cases when he was arrested and jailed without bail several days after German's murder. He was stripped of his elected position weeks later.

Standing in shackles before the judge on Wednesday, Telles offered “deepest condolences” to German's family but again denied responsibility for the reporter's death.

“I understand the desire to seek justice and hold somebody accountable for this,” he said. “But I did not kill Mr. German.”

Prosecutor Pamela Weckerly told the judge that evidence showed Telles killed German because “he didn't like what Mr. German had written about him. He felt that Mr. German had cost him an elected position."

“This type of violence, this sort of political violence,” the prosecutor said, “is unacceptable and dangerous for a community as a whole.”

Telles’ defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, asked for leniency for Telles and told the judge that Telles intends to appeal his conviction. After sentence was pronounced, Draskovich withdrew as Telles' defense lawyer.

“The sentence was not surprising,” Draskovich said outside court. “We fulfilled our defense obligation. We parted on good terms. (Telles) preserved all his rights for appeal.”

German was 69. He was a respected reporter who spent 44 years covering crime, courts and corruption in Las Vegas.

Telles lost his primary for a second term in office after German’s stories in May and June 2022 described turmoil and bullying at the Clark County Public Administrator/Guardian office and a romantic relationship between Telles and a female employee. His law license was suspended following his arrest.

Police sought public help to identify a person captured on neighborhood security video driving a maroon SUV and walking while wearing a broad straw hat that hid his face and an oversized orange long-sleeve shirt. Weckerly showed the jury footage of the person wearing orange slipping into the side yard where German was stabbed, slashed and left dead.

At Telles’ house, police found a maroon SUV and cut-up pieces of a straw hat and a gray athletic shoe that looked like those worn by the person seen on video. Authorities did not find the orange shirt or a murder weapon.

Telles testified for several rambling hours at his trial, admitting for the first time that reports of the office romance were true. He said he was “framed” for the crime by a broad conspiracy involving a real estate company, police, DNA analysts, former co-workers and others. He told the jury he was victimized for crusading to root out corruption.

Wolfson and prosecutors at trial dismissed those claims as unbelievable.

“The jury squarely and soundly rejected all of that,” Weckerly said at sentencing. She called Telles' accounts ”hollow claims."

Other evidence against Telles was strong. Prosecutor Christopher Hamner told the jury that Telles blamed German for destroying his career, ruining his reputation and threatening his marriage.

Telles told the jury he took a walk and went to a gym at the time German was killed. But evidence showed Telles’ wife sent text messages to him about the same time killed asking, “Where are you?” Prosecutors said Telles left his cellphone at home so he couldn’t be tracked.

The jury deliberated nearly 12 hours over three days before finding Telles guilty. The panel heard pained sentencing hearing testimony from German's brother and two sisters, along with emotional pleas for leniency from Telles’ wife, ex-wife and mother, before deciding that Telles could be eligible for parole.

Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt was able to consider sentencing enhancements adding up to eight years to Telles' sentence for using a deadly weapon in a willful, deliberate, premeditated killing because German was older than 60 years old.

“This defendant has shown absolutely no remorse, no acceptance of responsibility," said Wolfson, the Democratic elected regional prosecutor. "And in fact, his behavior is such that I believe he is an extreme danger to the community if he is ever released.”

German was the only journalist killed in the U.S. in 2022, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The nonprofit has records of 17 media workers killed in the U.S. since 1992.

“The sentencing of Robert Telles marks a significant milestone in the quest for justice," Katherine Jacobsen, the U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator at the committee, said Wednesday in a statement to The Associated Press. "Although the jailing of Telles cannot undo Jeff German’s murder, it can act as an important deterrent to would-be assailants of journalists.”

FILE - District Judge Michelle Leavitt speaks during a hearing for a juror question during deliberations for murder trial for Robert Telles, a former Clark County public administrator charged in the murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative journalist Jeff German, at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Aug. 26, 2024. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP, Pool, File)

FILE - Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, right, talks to Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German in his Las Vegas office, May 11, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP, File)

FILE - Robert Telles, right, a former Clark County public administrator charged in the murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative journalist Jeff German, listens to closing arguments during his murder trial at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Aug. 26, 2024. With Telles are his attorneys Robert Draskovich, left, and Michael Horvath. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP, Pool, File)