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| “ | Well, I caught you stop going to work. But I'll check on you as soon as I can, just lay low. If anything happens, or if you need anything, call me, Okay? | „ |
| ~ Joel, trying to comfort his former lover. |
| “ | It's all meant for you. | „ |
| ~ Joel on passing the curse to Lewis. |
Joel is the deuteragonist of the 2022 supernatural psychological horror movie Smile and the overarching protagonist of its 2024 sequel Smile 2. He is a police detective and ex-boyfriend of Rose Cotter.
He was portrayed by Kyle Gallner, who also portrayed Demon in Strange Darling.
Biography[]
Smile[]
At some point, Joel get visited by his former girlfriend, Rose Cotter. Joel was a bit suprised to see her, but she asked him if he can help her about the informations with the latest sucuide case. He reluctantly argrees, digging up the clues to find the lastest case. Both of them sees a man burning a car, with him having a rather fraguated expression. Joel, creeped and confused, tries to ask Rose about what is happening, but she did not reply.
Later, Joel contact Rose, telling her after she left he kept digging and found severals cases of witnesses seeing former witness trying to kill themselves, seeing them unnaturally smiling while killing themselves as the witness repeats what the victim did a week later, except one of them was the sole survivor, Robert Talley. Joel tells her that the survivor instead of repeating the same patern like the old victims, he kills another person while a civilizan witnessed, preventing him from receiving the same fate like the others as he was put into prison for it, but what strange is the witness who saw him murdering someone, kills himself a week later towards someone, repeating the pattern again. Leading him to believe Rose is actually cursed.
With Rose request, he drives her to the accountant while Rose explains what happened between her and Laura, telling him before she died, she was scared, not suicidal and she was like a different person when she was calm and smiling while killing herself without screaming in pain. Much to Joel shock but after Rose asks how long each victim lived, revealing another information to her, that most of the witnesses never survives more than four days, but Rose herself made it passed the fourth day, seeing it’s nearly time up for her. He comforts her, telling her that he won’t let anything what happen to those people, happen to Rose, as she holds his hand. The next day, the both of them talk to the survivor, but he says that he will only speak if Joel goes away. Which Joel refuses take orders from a prisoner. But Rose begs him to leave just for a little, Joel left them two alone inside the room just for Rose. After she talks to him, which ended with him having a straight up panic attack, yelling “GET HER AWAY FROM ME!” after knowing the monster is stalking her know worried it’ll attack him again, as Joel comforts Rose then asks what was it about, as Rose lies and tells Joel that Talley is just crazy, as Joel suspiciously but drives her back to her place.
Later Joel calls Rose on her phone after she had an attempted murder plan on Carl to pass the curse which she hallucinated and knowing she can’t really kill anyone, as well as after her boss Desai witnessed her knife and called the police out of worry what she’s gonna do, telling Rose the police has a APB on her now, as Rose tells him that she tried to pass the curse but got an new idea to face the monster alone instead of trying to run away, so the monster won’t be able to pass the curse on if she remains alone with it, as Joel tells that he’ll come to her but she hangs up on him.
Joel soon after talks to Rose again, with her apologizing for all the problems she caused for him and begs him to keep her company for the night. This is revealed to be a illusion, as the real Joel tracked her on her phone and she panics, realising the monster tricked her and started running into the her abandoned house to keep Joel away from. Joel hears her screaming as he breaks down the door to try and save her, entering it Joel calls out her name, but only to see her standing near a wall pouring kerosine on herself as she turns back, brightly smiling at him, (same way Laura was earlier when the entity possessed her) seeing it was too late to save Rose, as the entity possessing her lights a match and burns herself alive right in front of him. Leaving Joel in distraught to see her being burn alive before the Smile Entity passes the curse into him, becoming the next victim.
Smile 2[]
Six days later, Joel had endured days of horrific visions from the Smile Entity, which seemed to commonly feature Rose's fiery demise. He tries to remove the curse by handing it over to a couple of criminals, disemboweling one in front of the other, but the second criminal grabbed his gun, necessitating Joel to fire back in self-defense, which killed the second criminal; a mid-level drug dealer Lewis becomes a witness.
Shocked that he passed the curse to Lewis, but before Joel could explain the curse, he was forced to flee when half a dozen more armed criminals arrive to kill him in retaliation; Joel runs out onto the road, where he is fatally hit by a truck and dragged under it, grounding his lower body into a trail of blood and viscera, as well as a detached foot.
Trivia[]
- A deleted scene included Joel is first seen talking to Rose, trying to coversate her about her mental problems lately. He tries to convince her that she will be alright, and if there's any problem she can contact him. He hugs her as they both embrace one another, before she returns to her car.
- According to the director, it is implied that Joel was in some relationship with Rose, hence why he seems to have the most direct personal confrontation with her.