Smile

As Dr. Rose Cotter, a psychologist still grappling with the trauma of witnessing her mother's suicide at age 10, takes an emergency session with graduate student Laura Weaver at Mount Pleasant Hospital, she's met with a desperate plea for help. Laura, reeling from the aftermath of witnessing her professor Gabriel Munoz's brutal self-harm just days prior, insists that she's being tormented by a malevolent entity that can only be seen by those doomed to perish. Despite Rose's initial skepticism and diagnosis of hallucinations, Laura's fervent warnings leave her shaken.

The unexpected death of Laura at the hands of her own hand sends shockwaves through Rose's world. As one of the detectives conducting the investigation turns out to be her ex-boyfriend Joel, Rose is forced to confront the eerie similarities between Laura's demise and Gabriel's own apparent suicide just days earlier. The enigmatic smile that seemed to haunt both victims begins to sear itself into Rose's psyche.

The visions start soon after - Laura's ghostly visage appearing in various locations, her smile eerily omnipresent. This newfound obsession compels Rose to delve deeper into Gabriel's tragic end, only to uncover a similar, unsettling smile on the face of the deceased professor. As she becomes increasingly unhinged, Rose is confronted by Carl Ranken, another patient who had been admitted for a manic episode, his ominous grin and menacing behavior sending her reeling.

A desperate Rose seeks solace in Dr. Morgan Desai's guidance, only to be ordered to take a week-long leave of absence after a series of harrowing visions and unexplained events. Her cat's disappearance, followed by the unsettling discovery that her security system has been breached, further erodes Rose's grip on reality.

As her fiancé Trevor tries to calm her down during an audio review of their session with Laura, Rose's fragile state is laid bare. Desperate for a lifeline, she turns to her former therapist Dr. Madeline Northcott, seeking answers and solace. However, Madeline attributes Rose's growing paranoia to her deep-seated guilt over her mother's intentional overdose, refusing to prescribe anti-psychotic medication that might alleviate her distress. With her mental health hanging precariously in the balance, Rose is forced to confront the dark specter haunting her every waking moment - and the very real possibility that she may be losing her grip on reality altogether.

As Rose and Trevor attend Jackson's seventh birthday party at Holly's home, the festivities are suddenly disrupted by the unsettling discovery of Rose's deceased cat packaged as a gift for the unsuspecting young boy. The mortified guests include Rose herself, who becomes increasingly agitated after experiencing another harrowing vision of Laura. In her desperation to confide in Trevor about the eerie phenomenon, she trips and falls through a shattered glass table, further exacerbating her disintegrating sense of reality.

As Rose's grip on sanity begins to slip, she turns to Victoria Munoz, widow of Gabriel Munoz, hoping to uncover clues that might validate her claims. Victoria shares Gabriel's disturbing sketches depicting a dark entity he believed was attempting to infiltrate his mind. Rose also learns about Gabriel's traumatic experience following the loss of his brother 20 years prior and how it led him to become fixated on the supposed curse after attending a conference where he witnessed a woman take her own life. Despite Rose's persistence in seeking answers, Victoria rebuffs her, effectively closing off this line of inquiry.

Rose subsequently convinces Joel to collaborate with her in exploring the mysterious connections she has uncovered. Utilizing his police computer expertise, Joel gains access to Angela Powell's file, revealing that Gabriel had witnessed her death. Additional footage shows Angela visiting a gas station several days prior to her demise, where she encountered a seemingly cheerful man who suddenly and inexplicably used gardening shears to sever his own neck.

Upon returning home, Rose finds herself betrayed by Trevor, who has reached out to Madeline for an intervention regarding Rose's increasingly erratic behavior. Feeling deeply hurt and deceived, Rose storms out of the house, intent on retrieving copies of Joel's files and sharing them with her sister Holly. However, her attempts to convince Holly of the supernatural forces at play only lead to a heated argument between the sisters, with Holly likening Rose's actions to those of their abusive mother.

Joel subsequently contacts Rose to share his findings, revealing a disturbing pattern of 20 cases involving eyewitnesses who had witnessed suicides. The sole exception was Robert Talley, an accountant whose business partner took their own life. Instead of following suit, however, Robert went on to murder a stranger four days later, only for the individual who had witnessed this act to take their own life one week subsequently, thereby restarting the cycle.

As Joel drives Rose to visit Robert in prison, she confides in him about her theory that the entity possesses individuals before they succumb to self-destruction. Her concerns escalate as she fears her time is rapidly running out, leaving her with little choice but to confront the darkness head-on.

As Robert (actor's name) shares a somber truth with Rose at the jail cell, he reveals that the only way to shatter the curse's hold is to take another life, but this act of violence must be witnessed by someone else to satiate the entity's hunger for trauma. Panicked by the realization that Rose already carries the curse, Robert's words hang in the air like a dark cloud.

Meanwhile, Madeline pays an unexpected visit to Rose at her home, only for Rose to sense that the entity is masquerading as her friend. The doppelganger's saccharine smile is replaced with a menacing glare, leaving no doubt about its true nature. Armed with a kitchen knife and a sense of foreboding, Rose sets out on a desperate drive to the hospital.

As she navigates the deserted corridors, a vision of carnage unfolds before her eyes: Carl, one of her patients, lies lifeless at Dr. Desai's (actor's name) feet, his own face torn off in a gruesome display. The real Dr. Desai soon finds Rose huddled in her car, clutching the knife and beset by terror. He attempts to summon help as she hastily abandons the scene.

Joel's urgent call brings news that an APB has been issued for Rose, thanks to her frantic boss at the hospital. Rose cryptically explains her intentions to confront the entity alone, devoid of witnesses who might inherit the curse. With a sense of trepidation, she sets out on a solitary journey to face the darkness.

Her childhood home, where her mother's tragic death once unfolded, beckons like a beacon of doom. As Rose ventures inside, a vision of her mother appears, accusing her of abandoning her in her hour of need. The accusation sparks a torrent of pent-up emotions as Rose confronts the entity masquerading as her mother – a creature that attacks with ferocious intensity.

Undeterred, Rose sets the monster ablaze using an oil lantern, sending it fleeing into the night. As the abandoned house burns to ashes, she escapes into the darkness, forever changed by the horrors she's faced.

Rose later seeks out Joel to apologize for dragging him into this macabre dance and for her emotional unavailability during their relationship. But as she gazes upon his eerily serene smile, she realizes that the curse still clings to her like a shroud. In desperation, she flees outside, only to discover that she's never truly left the confines of her childhood home.

The real Joel arrives at the abandoned house, oblivious to the terror that lies within. Rose locks him out, determined to protect him from the entity's grasp. As the creature drags her mouth open in a macabre display, Joel bursts into the house just in time to behold Rose setting herself ablaze while her eyes gleam with an otherworldly intensity – a testament to the curse's unyielding grip on her soul.