Joel

**Joel** is one of the main characters in the 2022 American psychological horror film *Smile*. He is portrayed by Kyle Gallner.

## History

Prior to the events of the film, he had been in a relationship with Rose, and was one of Rose’s first serious boyfriends who, with her not having the tools to love, pushed him away when things got too serious for her to emotionally handle. In the present, he lives alone and works out of Newark, New Jersey. Despite the passage of time, he still has feelings for Rose.

Upon learning Laura Weaver's professor was grinning at her before his death, Rose visits his widow Victoria Muñoz and learns he became increasingly unstable after witnessing a woman die by suicide several days prior to his death. Rose asks her ex-boyfriend Joel, a police detective, to go through police records. The two exes find several cases where someone witnessed a suicide, then a few days later died by suicide in front of someone else, who continued the pattern.

Joel eventually calls her, revealing that he discovered all the witnesses died by suicide within a week. The exception was Robert Talley, who instead murdered someone else. Rose and Joel visit Robert in jail, where the latter claims the entity feeds on trauma, and the only way to escape it, is to kill someone in front of a witness in a brutal enough fashion to cause major psychological trauma, passing the entity to them.

After Rose seemingly defeats the entity after setting her old childhood home on fire, Rose flees the burning house. Then, she drives to Joel's apartment, where he comforts her. However, when Joel starts smiling menacingly, Rose realizes everything that happened from the moment she entered her old house was a hallucination.

As the real Joel pulls up, having tracked Rose's phone, Rose believes that he is either the entity or its next victim and runs screaming into the house and shuts the door, locking Joel out and locking herself in with the entity. The entity approaches the now despairing Rose and immediately rips off its own skin to reveal its true form - a towering, skinless humanoid with multiple sets of teeth and gums nested within an enormous, smiling mouth. Rose is subsequently paralyzed after seeing its visage, which allows the entity to force itself inside her body through her mouth. Joel breaks down the front door only to see a smiling Rose set herself on fire, with the entity passing onto him.

## Trivia

* On November 17, 2022, Gallner went onto say that even though nobody has talked to him yet, given how well the film has done, he wouldn't be surprised if a sequel was announced sooner rather than later.
* On November 19, 2022 it was mentioned that with generally positive reviews and a box office gross of $210M against a $17M budget, there is no doubt that *Smile* will get a sequel. The plot ended on a bleak yet unresolved note, leaving an opening for a second installment. With Joel as the new possessor of the curse, the story would need a continuation. it was mentioned that the cast is aboard for a sequel and director Parker Finn is already pitching ideas for it. But nothing has been made official.
* On December 14, 2022, Gallner, who starred as Dr. Rose’s former boyfriend Joel, revealed that he would definitely be up for another stint in a potential sequel.
* On January 11, 2024, it was announced that Gallner would reprise his role as Joel in *Smile 2*.

## References

1. ↑ Smile Star Kyle Gallner Knew Exactly What Kind Of Horror Movie He Was In - Slashfilm
2. ↑ “That was always baked into the DNA”: Smile Director Defends Movie’s Horrific Ending as Horror Flick Earns Massive $210M Against Meagre $17M Budget - Fandomwire
3. ↑ Smile director Parker Finn talks possible horror sequel and we’re already terrified - Metro
4. ↑ Kyle Gallner and Rosemarie DeWitt Join the Cast of ‘Smile’ Sequel from Director Parker Finn