I feel like Disney is somehow involved. The whole time I was watching it I felt like it was a Descendents-style take on the Smile movies. More gore, yes, and jumpscares. But none of the creeping suspense in the first movie. None of the "race against the clock."
It was just "Hey, this girl got stuck with the Smile thing. She's gonna die." And then you watched the whole movie and
Tap for spoiler
then she died
.
I was/am genuinely shocked. I realize my bile is a form of gatekeeping, but I can't help myself. I watched it, having no prior knowledge of it, formed an opinion, went to IMDb and was in disbelief.
I have three kids, one teen and two pre-teens and I'm REALLY familiar with Disney-style acting. There was a LOT of it in Smile 2.