7 Hints That Foreshadow Smile 2’s Gemma Twist

Warning: spoilers for Smile 2.

Smile 2 has a few twists, the biggest one about Skye’s (Naomi Scott) former best friend, Gemma (Dylan Gelula), whose entire story in the film turns out to be a hallucination caused by the entity Smile. Following the success of Parker Finn’s supernatural psychological horror film, Smile in 2022, a sequel was released in 2024, also directed by Finn. Simply titled Smile 2The sequel follows a new victim of the Smile entity: pop star Skye Riley, who prepares for a new world tour following a traumatic accident and her recovery from a substance use disorder.

The entity Smile begins to torment Skye during rehearsals, at home and with those closest to her. Desperate for help and feeling alone, Skye gets in touch with her ex-best friend Gemmawho she stopped talking to after insulting her via text message. Gemma responds quickly and makes up with Skye, and stays with her that night. However, towards the end of Smile 2it is revealed that each of Gemma’s appearances was the product of the Smile entity’s hallucinationsand there were some clues to this throughout the film.

After not speaking for about a year, Gemma responds too quickly

Skye has a lot of unresolved trauma Smile 2which makes her the perfect target for the Smile entity. Her career and fame took a toll on Skye for years, developing substance use disorder that only worsened after a car accident in which her boyfriend and famous actor, Paul Hudson (Ray Nicholson), died. Skye struggled to get up and get clean, and some of your personal relationships have been deeply affected by all of thisamong them her friendship with Gemma, with whom she was best friends for years.

Before the events of Smile 2, Skye sent very aggressive and insulting messages to Gemma that effectively ended their friendship. Now recovered and preparing for her new tour, Skye’s mother (and manager), Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt), tells Skye to get an assistant and suggests Gemma for it. After some hesitation, Skye decides to contact Gemma and message her, hoping to reconnect with her former best friend. Gemma calls Skye a few minutes after the message and despite what happened between them, Skye doesn’t do much damage control.

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Time dilation upon Gemma’s arrival at Skye’s apartment

Skye loses all track of time

Many things about the Smile entity are still a mystery, but both Smile the films so far have provided enough detail to understand its basics. The Smile entity feeds on its hosts’ trauma, using it and their most painful memories to torture them through vivid hallucinations. All over Smileit was somewhat easy to identify when Rose was hallucinating and when things were actually happening to her and around her. Smile 2 messed with the entity’s hallucinations much more, making it more difficult to know what was real and what wasn’t.

This is critical to the overall viewing experience of Smile 2 as it makes the audience part of Skye’s story, as neither Skye nor the viewers are sure what is real and what is the product of torture inflicted by the Smile entity. One of the ways the entity messes with Skye Smile 2 is to make her lose track of timewhich happens several times throughout the film. One is when, after her phone call with Gemma, she sees an obsessive fan in her apartment, naked and ready to attack her.

This hallucination doesn’t last more than a few minutes, and when Skye runs to the door to escape him, Gemma is already there, waiting for Skye to open it. Skye questions how she got there so quickly, with Gemma telling her their call happened an hour ago. Of course this is not true, as the phone call, the naked fan and Gemma’s arrival were all created by the Smile entity.

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Gemma forgives Sky very quickly

Gemma isn’t bothered by Skye’s past insults

Although Smile 2 doesn’t properly explain what happened between Gemma and Skye, there’s enough information to piece together a believable reason. Although Elizabeth doesn’t think what happened between Gemma and Skye was a big deal and the latter could ask the former to be her assistant, the audience later gets a look at the last messages Skye sent, and they were a big deal. Skye repeatedly insulted Gemma, who did well to distance herself.

During the height of her substance use disorder and after the accident, Skye was a pretty toxic person, and it’s possible that Gemma tried to help her and Skye reacted aggressively. Whatever the case and the true reasons behind Skye and Gemma’s fallout, the very strong words used by Skye are not something anyone would easily forgive and forget. When Gemma calls Skye back, she’s more concerned about Skye’s current situation than why she’s so casually reaching out again and not exactly apologizing.

Gemma quickly agrees to meet Skye at her house and ignores what happened between them. This, of course, is a relief for Skye, who is already going through a lot between her career, past traumas, and now the Smile entity, but it was only the latter starting to mess with her in a very personal way. As confirmed later, when the real Gemma calls Skye, she would not have forgiven Skye so easily.

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Skye’s mother doesn’t notice Gemma in the apartment

Gemma even says hello to her

After quickly arriving at Skye’s apartment and forgiving her, Gemma agrees to spend the night at Skye’s apartment. After the hallucination of the naked fan in her apartment and the many other ways the entity had already messed with her, Skye understandably doesn’t want to be home alone. However, Skye wakes up in the middle of the night and talks to a sleeping Gemma, telling her about her past, her struggles, and more. A sleepy Gemma says she’s a horrible person, and when Skye turns to her, she finds Gemma smiling at her.

In one of the many jumpscares in Smile 2Gemma’s face suddenly lights up like a car light and makes a disturbing sound. Skye jumps out of bed and suddenly it’s morning, another example of time dilation caused by the entity. Gemma shows up with two mugs of matcha for her and Skye, but Skye realizes she’s late and, again, is rude to Gemma. Elizabeth arrives and rushes Skye, but she doesn’t notice Gemma in the room, even when Gemma says “hi” to her.

Considering how much Elizabeth insisted that Skye reconnect with Gemma and offer her to be her assistant, It’s weird that she wouldn’t have been happy to see her at Skye’s apartment and say hello to her. Even though they were both in a hurry, Elizabeth definitely would have seen Gemma if she had actually been there.

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Gemma never responds to Skye’s messages

Gemma suddenly stops talking to Skye again

Skye tries to initiate contact again with Gemma via text and Gemma calls her minutes later, but she never responds to her messages. After spending the night at Skye’s apartment, it is understood that they are friends again, and Gemma is expected to appear more often… but she doesn’t. Skye is busy with rehearsals for her world tour and various public appearances, so she doesn’t really have time to reconnect with Gemma, but she keeps in touch with her – or at least tries.

Skye texts Gemma but she never responds and desperately asks her to come over to her house.spend the night again or simply find her as she spins more and more due to the Smile entity. Skye and Gemma do not meet again until the former escapes from the private hospital where Elizabeth took her, and Gemma takes her to meet Morris. It’s during that car ride that Skye gets a call from the real Gemma, who questions her about all her “random” text messages and tells her to stop texting after what happened between them.

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Gemma does not interact with other characters

Gemma only talks to Skye

Perhaps the biggest clue to Smile 2Gemma’s big twist is that she doesn’t interact with any other characters, just Skye. The morning after Gemma hooks up with Skye, Elizabeth doesn’t notice her, and the scene cuts right after Gemma greets her, without waiting for a response. This is the only interaction fake Gemma has with another character, but obviously, Elizabeth would never have any reaction to her. The only other time Gemma could have interacted with another person would be outside the hospital, when Skye escapes after allegedly killing her mother.

Gemma says Elizabeth’s driver took her there, but the driver doesn’t react to her when Skye pulls him out of the car at gunpoint. The Smile entity’s goal is to isolate Skye, and the best way to do that is through someone Skye trusts and who gives her some sense of security and stability – and who is better than her ex-best friend, even more so if she forgives easily. and forget what happened between them.

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Gemma conveniently appears outside the hospital

Gemma shows up when Skye needs her most

In truth, Gemma always conveniently shows up when Skye needs her most. Smile 2. Gemma quickly calls Skye after the first message, Gemma arrives at Skye’s apartment too quickly (despite saying she would be there in approximately 45 minutes), she suddenly appears behind Skye the next morning, and she appears outside the hospital when Skye escapes. The latter is a big reveal, as Gemma simply shows up with two coffees when Skye leaves the hospital with a gun and tells Skye that she was driven there by her mother’s driver.

Gemma walks Skye to the car and they drive away, which is also quite convenient since Skye is desperate to get to the abandoned Pizza Hut and find Morris. The Smile entity has reached new levels of evil, but also of intelligence in how it messed with Skye and manipulated her and her reality, and Gemma’s twist, while shocking, is also one of the most brilliant parts of Smile 2.