PHOTO COURTESY PARAMOUNT PICTURES

The somewhat tortured premise of “Smile 2,” and its inexplicably popular predecessor, involves a parasitic demon that hops from victim to victim via … smiling, I guess.

Honestly, the grins seem somewhat incidental to the curse, but you gotta find your spooks where you can.

In writer/director Parker Finn’s follow-up to the 2022 original, a struggling pop star (Naomi Scott) is trying to get her career back on track; a period of substance abuse culminated in a car crash that claimed the life of her movie-star boyfriend (Ray Nicholson, who has inherited his father’s rubber face). On the verge of a world tour, she stops by the apartment of a drug-dealer friend, only to witness him fall victim to the mysterious curse.

If I’m being vague on some of the details, it’s because even describing them is often unnecessarily explicit. The “Smile” films are among the most graphic and gory in mainstream cinema, rivaling such blood-forward franchises as “Saw” with none of the mitigating absurdity. While these films are marketed as spooky-season chillers, make no mistake, they’re often deeply troubling.

That’s true in content as well as in viscera. “Smile 2” doubles as a fairly detailed exploration of depression and anxiety, as our doomed heroine tries desperately to fight her own demons (as well as the new one). There might be something of value in such explorations; Scott gives a good performance, and her descriptions of her inner turmoil are often heartbreaking. It’s also a more effective perils-of-fame tale than several movies about real-life figures (“Back to Black,” I’m looking in your direction).

But “Smile 2” undercuts its own message by using self-harm as a vehicle for jump scares; it’s hard to take a parable about depression seriously when that story’s M.O. is to make audiences spill their popcorn when a character hurts themselves.

Ultimately, the scares in “Smile 2” are cheap and easy. If your movie would lose all of its terror by turning the lights on and avoiding staccato bursts of unmotivated sound design, it’s not scary — it’s just irritating. There are some good performances and decent ideas in this sequel, but they’re washed away in a river of blood.

My Rating: 5/10

“Smile 2” is now playing in theaters.