'Scream 7' Is a Moral and Artistic Failure
Even at their worst, the Scream films have always at least tried to inject interesting ideas about fandom and horror culture into their storylines. That trend comes to an end with Scream 7.
This review contains spoilers for the first six Scream films but not Scream 7.
I've always had a soft spot for the Scream films.
I'm generally a fan of anything that deconstructs a popular genre or takes a meta approach to its subject matter, so when Wes Craven's Scream burst onto the scene in 1996, I was hooked. The Ghostface design was instantly iconic, Neve Campbell's performance as Sidney Prescott was highly sympathetic, and the concept of characters that were familiar with slasher movie tropes was irresistible. Also, for once, the film nerds that I could relate to on screen were depicted as... well, not necessarily cool, but at the very least likable!
The franchise has definitely had some ups and downs over the years, but the formula became highly reliable: every film introduced a plethora of new characters, creating a closed circle mystery. Ghostface (or Ghostfaces) killed a bunch of people in gruesome and elaborate ways, only to reveal their true identity and motives at the end, not anticipating that the protagonists would ultimately vanquish them.
Over time, the formula started to get stale as the same characters inevitably survived each installment – Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), Dewey Riley (David Arquette, through the fifth film), and Sidney typically made it out okay, only to face a new set of threats in subsequent installments. But the problem with making Sidney the protagonist in every film is that there are only so many Important Life Lessons you can learn from everyone around you being viciously murdered.
No Campbell For You
Then Scream VI happened.
Due to a pay dispute, Neve Campbell declined to return for the sixth installment, so the filmmakers were forced to find a new way forward. Continuing the story from Scream V (which was simply titled Scream), Scream VI focused on a new "Core Four" of Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), her half-sister Tara (Jenna Ortega), Tara's boyfriend Chad (Mason Gooding), and Chad's twin Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown). I can't say Scream V was my favorite film in the series, but I appreciated that finally, after a quarter century of Scream films, the franchise was finally going in a fresh direction. Barrera and Ortega helped breathe new life into the franchise, with Barrera's turn as Billy Loomis's daughter introducing a bold dynamic into a tired formula.
Audiences agreed, driving Scream VI to debut with $44.4 million at the box office, the highest opening weekend for any film in the franchise. It would eventually become the most financially successful Scream film. Meanwhile, Barrera and Ortega's careers were heating up, setting the stage for an ultra-successful Scream VII with the co-leads back at it in another Ghostface whodunnit.
In fall 2023, following the Hamas terror attacks in Israel, Barrera made a series of posts on her Instagram page, resharing a post accusing Israel of "genocide and ethnic cleansing," among others. Spyglass Media Group, which controls the rights to the Scream franchise, cut ties with Barrera, deeming her posts antisemitic and crossing the line into hate speech. Ortega and director Christopher Landon, originally slated to direct the seventh film, departed soon after. Another shakeup was required and the script was retooled to bring Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox back into the mix (with huge paydays to accompany them).
I think history will show that Barrera's posts came from a pretty reasonable position, given all that's transpired in the 2.5 years since then. Spyglass's actions have prompted an uproar from activists, who want audiences to reject Scream 7 lest its success lead to chilled speech in Hollywood.
Having seen the film, I can report that Spyglass's creative decisions here will not only fail the moral test of time, they also fail the current test of film quality. Scream VII is a shockingly shoddy film that is almost offensively bad.
The Worst Film in the Scream Franchise
It's been a while since the last Ghostface killings and Sidney Prescott is now Sidney Evans. She's married a police officer (Joel McHale) and has a teenage daughter who she's named Tatum (Isabel May), after her late high school friend from the first Scream movie. When a new Ghostface resurfaces, Sidney teams up with Gale Weathers (with Mindy and Chad as journalists-in-training accompanying her) to try to unravel the latest mystery of who's hunting her.
Even at their worst, the Scream films have always at least tried to inject interesting ideas about fandom and horror culture into their storylines. That trend comes to an end with Scream 7. While there are some perfunctory nods to the idea of franchise horror films and AI deepfakes, this film is not only bereft of any ideas, it doesn't even seem to realize that ideas were an important part of its legacy (doubly strange because Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first Scream film, directs this one).
The franchise's sin was that it developed an over-reliance on Sidney Prescott's character as an anchor. But Sidney's story has already been played out so many times that there is scant new dramatic territory to explore. The only new concept here is the idea that Sidney has a daughter who she's loathe to pass her trauma on to. While that offers some potentially ripe areas for exploration, we don't really get to know any of the new characters well enough, Tatum included, to care what happens to them.
Instead, what the film offers is a bunch of gore and cringeworthy fan service. The slasher scenes are competently done, with a couple scenes generating some decent thrills. But the previous Scream films and the events therein are treated with a reverence that even the most hardcore Scream fans will find hard to match. For example, Sidney Prescott's original jacket is treated with an awe that rivals Wolverine's. And the manner in which Gale Weathers is re-introduced almost killed the film on the spot for me. The Scream movies have always been a little silly but they've rarely been stupid as they are here.
Which brings me to the ending. I'm not going to spoil it, but I would describe the resolution of Scream 7 as catastrophic. Whenever we get to the reveal of a Scream film, it's always a bit of a stretch who the real killer is but at least there's some kind of internal logic to it. Typically, the reveals build upon the lore in interesting (or at least fun) ways. Here, the resolution is so ridiculous and nonsensical that I actually felt embarrassed. I was stunned that people came up with this and expected the audience to be okay with it. It felt insulting, especially for a franchise that used to be considered hip and subversive.
The Scream franchise lucked into a new start with Scream VI. By parting ways with Melissa Barrera, it has inadvertently consigned itself to social and creative irrelevance. Spyglass is probably going to make more of these based on how well this one is already doing, but if they do, I hope they take some time to deeply think through how they can improve upon what's here. If there's one thing we learned from this franchise, it's that the worst thing you can say is, "I'll be right back."
Scream 7 is out in theaters this weekend. If you enjoyed this review, please consider subscribing to the Decoding Everything newsletter.
