Smile 2 arrived in theaters on October 18, 2024, and alongside its terrifying smile curse, the film introduced a detail that quickly became one of the most talked-about elements of the movie: pop star Skye Riley constantly chugging large glass bottles of Voss water. For many viewers, the repeated shots of the premium water brand felt like obvious product placement. The actual explanation is rooted in the character’s recovery from addiction and her desperate need for control.
The Therapist’s Advice Behind Skye’s Water Habit
The film directly addresses the Voss water bottles early on. Skye explains to her friend Gemma that drinking an entire bottle of water was a strategy recommended by one of her therapists. Whenever she feels the urge to use drugs or alcohol, she is supposed to go to the refrigerator and drink a full bottle of water instead.
Skye Riley is a year into her sobriety when the movie begins. She is preparing for a comeback tour after a car crash that killed her boyfriend Paul and nearly ended her own life. The pressure of the tour, her controlling mother-manager Elizabeth, and the lingering guilt from the accident create constant triggers. Each time those triggers surface, she reaches for a Voss bottle and drinks the entire thing in one go.
The point is that every time Skye feels the need to consume alcohol or drugs, she drinks an entire bottle of water to give her a sense of control and satiate the desire for other substances.
The habit is not a cure. It is a replacement behavior, a physical action she can perform to interrupt a craving. The film shows her doing this repeatedly, sometimes finishing a bottle in seconds, to make the audience feel how often she is fighting her own mind.
Why the Film Chose Voss Water Specifically
The choice of Voss over a generic water brand was not random. Voss comes in a distinctive cylindrical glass bottle, and that glass design serves two purposes in the film’s visual language.
Voss is a premium product, and Skye Riley is a wealthy pop superstar. The brand aligns with her public image of luxury and success. A character of her status would not be seen drinking from a plastic convenience store bottle. The glass bottle also makes a specific sound when set down or dropped, and the film uses that detail in its sound design.
Skye’s therapist reportedly recommended the water strategy, but the specific brand was chosen to match her lifestyle. The glass bottle is also easier to open and drink from quickly, which matters for an actress who had to perform the action on camera multiple times.
Some viewers initially assumed the Voss bottles were paid product placement. The film’s narrative explains the habit clearly, and the brand choice supports the character’s background as a wealthy celebrity. The glass bottle becomes a visual marker of both her privilege and her struggle.
Naomi Scott Actually Drank Every Bottle
The most striking behind-the-scenes fact about the Voss water detail is that Naomi Scott did not fake it. Every time Skye chugs a full bottle of Voss water on screen, Scott actually drank the entire bottle during filming. No visual effects were used to make it look like she was finishing the water.
Scott spoke about the physical difficulty of the repeated takes. In one sequence that ends with Skye smashing a shower, the crew needed an hour-long reset between full takes. Scott still had to chug the water each time the camera rolled.
It’s actually really hard to down a bottle [of Voss]. I guess I didn’t anticipate how uncomfortable that would be. For example, the one take that ends with me smashing the shower, that was an hour-long reset. So we only did that take all the way through two times, but we started the take [in a place] where it would then be cut. Parker didn’t want to waste a [full] take and have to reset if he knew that it wasn’t the one, but we did it five times. So I had to chug each time, and it was really important to me that she downed the whole bottle at that point in the movie.
Director Parker Finn offered Scott an out, telling her she did not have to keep drinking the water during every take. Scott refused. She felt the physical action was essential to showing Skye’s state of mind at that moment. The actress also kept a massive two-and-a-half-liter water bottle on set throughout the shoot, which the cast and crew named Gidget
The Deeper Meaning of the Water Bottles
The Voss water bottles carry a darker symbolic weight as the film progresses. Skye believes the water gives her control over her addiction. But the smile curse is spreading through her mind, and that sense of control is an illusion.
The amount of water she drinks can be read as a measure of her mental state. Early in the film, after a television interview, she takes only a small sip in the car. After witnessing a violent suicide, she goes home and drinks an entire bottle in one sitting. The more the curse tightens its grip, the more she drinks, and the less the water actually helps.
The repeated action becomes a visible sign of her internal battle. Skye is not just fighting a supernatural entity. She is fighting the same cravings and guilt that existed before the curse ever found her. The water bottles represent her attempt to stay sober, stay in control, and stay alive. The tragedy of Smile 2 is that none of those things are fully within her power.
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A Detail That Became a Fan Talking Point
The Voss water bottles became one of the most memorable parts of Smile 2 for audiences. Some viewers found the repetition funny. Others found it distracting. Memes about Skye Riley’s water consumption spread online after the film’s release. The detail also sparked conversations about how movies use branded products and whether a repeated prop can carry meaning beyond advertising.
For the creative team, the Voss bottles were always part of the story. The film uses them to show Skye’s wealth, her addiction recovery, her therapist’s advice, and her slipping grip on reality. Naomi Scott’s commitment to actually drinking the water made the detail feel real in a way that a visual effect could not.
Smile 2 is streaming on Paramount+ and available for digital rental or purchase on platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and YouTube. The film is rated R for strong bloody violent content, grisly images, drug use, language, and some sexual references. Runtime is 127 minutes.
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