Going up against our childhood legends is never a good idea. You wouldn’t argue with Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. You wouldn’t take umbrage with the leavings of one Peter Cottontail. You certainly would demure from damaging your relations with a leprechaun on St. Patty’s Day. Yet little Scarlet (Emerson Basco) tries to outsmart the Tooth Fairy (Kevin Alejandro) in the new h0rror short SMILE. The results are little to smirk at.

To be fair we have a lot to enjoy here not the least of which is Basco’s performance as a precocious little brat scheming to get a bigger payoff from the mythical creature that exchanges teeth for money. We have but mere seconds in a short film to convey the most important of details, so the opening monologue is rich, to say the least. Little Scarlet thinks the Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay much and has a plan. Only when the big TF does visit, well, there is a reason she is a mythical character.

The short has a rich look that benefits from expert lensing and production design. The sound design could use a bit of work as the short starts off unfocused and echoed. A minor quibble but one worth mentioning. The creature design for the Tooth Fairy is as satisfying as it is unsettling. How Basco didn’t flinch it its presence is a marvel.

Our conclusion leaves us confused and unsatisfied. To explain further would rob viewers of the joy of discovery but it is almost impossible to explain our main issues without divulging too much.  In short, the conclusion was muddled and the payoff wasn’t worth the wait. It is at this point that you look at the short as a body of work. Here we see an overall solid piece that could use notes here and there. In short, our message to the filmmakers, writer Kevin Alejandro and director Leslie Alejandro is, keep creating. You clearly have the talent.

5 out of 10