The fact that Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) was a pop icon enjoying massive success, wealth, and a highly anticipated comeback tour didn’t save her from the brutal grip of the Smile Entity. Writer-director Parker Finn’s return with a second Smile film brought about the end of yet another main character, continuing the disturbing trend from the first movie.
While the original film had Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) lose her life and unknowingly pass the Smile curse to someone else, Skye’s end takes a different route. Instead of quietly transferring the curse, her death happens in front of a massive live audience inside Madison Square Garden.
The stage became her final spotlight (Photo: Smile 2/Temple Hill Entertainment and Bad Feeling Production)With phones recording everywhere, the shocking event spreads far beyond the arena, exposing millions online to what just happened.
Finn opened up to Entertainment Weekly about Skye’s fate, saying, “What I wanted for Skye was a journey that builds towards something that feels brutal, but also like the right ending for her.” He went on to explain that staging her demise in front of 20,000 people made it even more horrifying.
He wondered how wide the effect would be if it was live-streamed and said the concept fascinated him. The power the Smile holds, when paired with someone as famous as Skye, raised questions about influence and public reach. According to him, the platform Skye had could multiply the curse’s reach to an unimaginable level.
How Smile 2 Builds on the Original Concept
Getting to the intense final scene is no accident; Parker Finn carefully develops the story to deepen what began in Smile. The Smile Entity’s nature involves tormenting its victims mentally and physically for about a week before pushing them to take their own lives.
The horror continues for anyone who witnesses the death since the curse jumps to them. Rose tries to break the cycle in the first film by tracing back past victims and discovering a murderer who removed the curse through violence.
In Smile 2, Skye meets an ER nurse named Morris (Peter Jacobson), who believes that stopping a victim’s heart briefly and reviving it could break the curse completely. When Skye runs out of options, she chooses to meet Morris for this risky plan.
He takes her to what she thinks is an abandoned Pizza Hut to carry out the procedure. But just before they begin, the Smile Entity reappears and throws everything into confusion.
The lights go off, and when they return, Skye is stunned to discover that she’s not in a Pizza Hut — she’s actually on stage at Madison Square Garden, staring at a packed audience. The entity then reveals its actual form, a tall, disturbing creature with several grinning faces.
Skye, the only one who can see this horror, is overwhelmed by fear and drops to her knees. Then, in front of her shocked fans, she picks up her microphone and kills herself in a terrifying and violent moment.
The Meaning Behind Skye’s Story and Public Collapse
Parker Finn explained to EW that he was deeply moved by the tragic stories of famous singers like Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston. For him, Skye’s ending reflects the public’s role in watching these stars fall apart while doing nothing to help.
Skye’s smile marked the end, not the encore (Photo: Smile 2/Temple Hill Entertainment and Bad Feeling Production)He described Skye’s breakdown as being caused by everything she had been forced to carry, and he was interested in using her last scene to turn the attention on the viewers themselves. “I wanted the movie theatre audience to feel like they were staring back at themselves through the arena crowd,” Finn said.
He aimed to raise difficult questions about the people watching — were they partly responsible for Skye’s fate? Could the desire to see another Smile film have caused more harm? That discomfort and self-awareness were what drove how Finn crafted the end.
What the Ending Might Mean for Smile 3
With Skye’s tragic moment possibly exposing thousands — or even millions — of people to the Smile curse, one might wonder what direction a third movie could take. Finn made it clear that the future depends on how audiences react to Smile 2.
He hinted that any third entry would need to deliver something truly unexpected and powerful. The human side of the story remains important to him, which is why Smile and Smile 2 are built around emotional, and personal struggles.
If more stories were added to the Smile series, they would still carry that same emotional intensity. Finn remained silent on specific plans but suggested that there are several paths the next installment could take — and if it happens, it would aim to surprise in a major way.
