Meeting your significant other’s parents could be difficult. Especially when they don’t appear to be human.
Today, we’re discussing the horror short “Smiles” by Javier Chavanel. It is now streaming on Alter’s YouTube channel, and you can also watch it at the end of this article. It might inspire you to get a script ready for the next Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition.
The Plot
Borja is going to meet the parents of his girlfriend, Sarah. But when he gets to their house, the entire family is acting weird. Everybody is completely quiet, and appears to be wearing yellow smiley face masks, although Sara insists those are their real faces. And things are about to get a lot worse for Borja when Sara shows him who she really is.
Show Your Real Face
The short makes use of the uncanniness of the family. The design of the faces is simple but inhuman and unsettling. Their unmoving smiling faces make the viewer question what lies beneath them. They also add to the creepiness of the family’s silence. They don’t act like actual people do. Even when they are at the dinner table, they don’t actually eat, but mime eating, while still wearing their constant smiles.
The atmosphere often seems like a caricature of the so-called perfect suburban life. The family lives in what appears to be a model house, with a dog out front that’s really just a statue. Their constant smiles only help with this illusion.
The creepy acting is effective, but so is the horror of the gruesome reveal, and the main character’s fate. The gore effects are well-done and are a nice cap to this bizarre nightmare. This is a very disturbing tale of finding out you may not be the one for your significant other.
In Conclusion
Smiles is an unsettling tale of a simple trip to meet a loved one’s family turning into a nightmare. It takes a surreal concept and portrays it in a very unsettling fashion.
Watch it below.
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