Although Smile 2’s trailer confirms that Smile’s last survivor is dead, this only makes the actor’s return all the more confusing. Smile proved a huge hit when the horror movie was released in September 2022. On a budget of only $17 million, director Parker Finn’s supernatural story earned a staggering $217 million. This inevitably resulted in a sequel and 2024’s upcoming Smile 2 seems set to recapture the unsettling atmosphere of the original movie. Although initially criticized for perceived similarities to The Ring and It Follows, Smile received unexpectedly positive reviews upon its release.

Smile’s story of a troubled young psychiatrist investigating a mysterious curse did borrow from these earlier horror hits, but Smile’s unique twists and turns were terrifying enough to excuse this creative debt. Smile’s ending was one of the most spectacularly mean-spirited moments in recent horror history, an unapologetically downbeat twist that was soon singled out as one of the year’s best horror sequences. This ending left the heroine dead but her love interest, Kyle Gallner’s cop Joel, alive. Since Smile’s curse infected victims via witnessing the previous sufferer’s death, Joel was presumably doomed to share the heroine’s grim fate.

Smile 2’s Trailer Subtly Confirms Kyle Gallner’s Joel Died After Smile

Smile’s Sequel Killed Off The Original Movie’s Main Survivor

Albeit indirectly, Smile 2’s trailer confirms that Kyle Gallner’s Joel did die after Smile‘s ending. The sequel’s heroine, Naomi Scott’s Skye, is a pop star who becomes the latest victim of the enigmatic curse after witnessing another victim’s gruesome self-inflicted demise. Skye talks to a bar patron who claims that no one has lived more than a week after the curse is passed on to them. Presuming this character has traced back the curse’s history, it is fair to guess Joel is among its victims, as Smile 2 most likely takes place more than a week after the original movie.

In Smile’s Stephen King-inspired ending, Sosie Bacon’s Rose becomes cursed after witnessing a patient succumb the curse. She isolates herself in a remote cabin to confront the curse on the seventh day. Initially, Rose appears to overpower the demon, leaving it to burn alive as she escapes to her apartment. However, Rose meets Gallner’s Joel upon her return and, as he morphs into the smiling demon, realizes she is still in the cabin. She is overwhelmed by the monstrous smiling creatures as Joel arrives and watches helplessly when she self-immolates. Thus, Joel becomes the curse’s next victim.

Joel’s Death Changes What Role He’ll Play In Smile 2

Joel’s Return Seemed Set To Be A Heroic Supporting Role

It is already confirmed that Gallner will appear in the sequel, but it is now unclear what role Joel will play in Smile 2. The most obvious plan for the sequel’s Joel return would be for the original movie’s survivor to team up with Skye and help her fight the curse. However, Joel’s apparent death makes this less likely. It is possible that Joel will follow in the footsteps of Friday the 13th and Hostel’s heroes, both of whom returned in the opening scenes of their respective sequels before they were summarily killed off.

Smile 2 will have a hard time upping the ante after the original movie’s brutality.

This classic horror trope would prove Smile 2’s curse is even more dangerous than it seems by killing off the lone living connection to the original movie immediately. Smile 2 will have a hard time upping the ante after the original movie’s brutality, and killing off Joel in its opening scene would effectively prove that no one is safe from the curse. However, there are other roles that Gallner’s character could play in the sequel. The movie might reveal that multiple people can be afflicted with the curse simultaneously, meaning Kyle could be alive at its beginning.

What Joel’s Role In Smile 2 Could Be Now

Joel May Have A Villain Role Or An Early Cameo In Smile 2

Joel could have gotten the curse from Rose around the same time that someone else passed it on to Skye, meaning Smile 2’s story might take place right after Smile’s ending after all. This would facilitate Gallner’s return, as Joel could share all he knows about the curse with Skye before his death. However, there are further options for the character’s fate in the sequel. If Joel does die before Smile 2 begins or in its opening scene, then he might return as an incarnation of the curse itself.

In Smile 2, Joel might be one of the curse’s creepy human disguises.

Throughout Smile, the curse drove Rose to insanity by taking the form of her therapist, her sister, and even Joel to wear down her defenses and leave her paranoid. In Smile 2, Joel might be one of the curse’s creepy human disguises. This could be terrifying as he may appear to Skye as a fellow concerned victim of the curse who wants to help her, only to reveal his true form once her guard is down. Smile 2’s arrival will reveal the Smile supporting character’s role in the sequel, but Joel’s death doesn’t limit the possibilities of his return.

Smile 2
is set to be released on October 18, 2024.