Smile ending explained: Does Rose survive?

Written and directed by Parker Finn, Smile was originally released back in 2022 and starred Sosie Bacon as Rose, a psychiatric doctor whose life becomes a waking nightmare after she witnesses a patient taking her own life and soon after becomes haunted by a terrifying smile that seems to follow her wherever she goes.

With jump scares and psychological twists aplenty, the movie delivers several misdirections and surprising plot developments that kept viewers glued to their seats during its initial theatrical run.

So, if you were left slightly confused by the ending, read on to have the Smile ending explained – and be warned, full spoilers follow.

Smile ending explained: What happens in the movie?

When she witnesses a patient kill herself right in front of her eyes – complete with a deeply creepy smile – Rose (Sosie Bacon) begins to find that the terror the patient had previously described has now been passed on to her.

Noting that the patient had previously witnessed a similar suicide, she realises that unless she acts quickly, she is bound to meet the same grisly fate – and so embarks on an investigation to find the original source of the deeply uneasy feeling that has come over her.

As she investigates, she seeks the help of former boyfriend Joel (Kyle Gallner), a policeman who is initially reluctant to help, and the pair discover that there is a chain of suicides that can be traced back quite far.

Only one person appears to have avoided killing themselves after being caught up in the chain: a man named Robert Talley, who is now imprisoned after he killed his business partner.

A visit to Talley confirms Rose and Joel's suspicion that he was able to get rid of the curse by committing a murder in front of a witness – with the curse then passing on to the witness instead.

Such is the desperation that Rose is now feeling, it briefly crosses her mind that she could kill one of her patients as a way of passing on the curse – and indeed she even hallucinates about doing exactly that.

Instead, though, she opts to take a different route and drives out to the abandoned family home where her mother had killed herself many years ago: if there is no witness to her suicide, Rose realises, then the curse will not be able to pass on to someone else.

While she's there, the curse takes the shape of a monster resembling her mother and tries to get her to leave, but Rose appears defiant and tells it she has nothing to fear – it only exists in her mind. She appears to set it on fire and drives away back to Joel.

Only, it turns out this didn't happen at all – Rose was simply imagining it and is actually still stuck in the house, where the monster is very much alive.

Does Rose survive in Smile?

When Joel eventually discovers Rose's whereabouts by tracking her phone, he arrives on the scene just in time for the monster to get the better of Rose once and for all.

As Joel walks in, Rose is wearing that familiar creepy smile and has covered herself in gasoline – about to light a match.

So no, Rose does not survive in Smile and even worse, it seems the curse has found a way to keep itself going, with Joel now presumably set to be its next victim. It will be very interesting to see how this develops in the upcoming sequel...

Smile is now streaming on Netflix – sign up from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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