10 Best Performances From 2024 Horror Movies

Smile 2 proved that filmmaker Parker Finn is no one-trick pony, offering up an arguably even better sequel that has one major ace up its sleeve: Naomi Scott.

Scott portrays troubled protagonist Skye Riley, a pop star who finds herself preyed upon by the focal trauma demon. And to call the film one hell of a calling card for her acting chops is quite the understatement indeed. She doesn't merely do a serviceable job for a mainstream horror movie - she commits fully to the script's intense demands and delivers a performance that, in a just world, would be courting awards buzz tight now. 

But alas, we all know what the Academy thinks about most of the horror genre.

All the same, Naomi Scott gives herself over entirely to Finn's script, delivering one of cinema's most evocative recent portrayals of sanity slippage, regardless of genre. One can only imagine how emotionally draining Smile 2 must've been for Scott to shoot, but the result is one of the most memorable performances from any mainstream horror film of the past decade.