After binge-watching all the Scream movies in middle school, I remember immediately wishing I could go back and watch them all again. I wanted to experience that rush of adrenaline as I anxiously waited to find out who was hiding under that iconic mask. Scream (2022) has finally granted me that wish, pulling me every which way while the killer gets away with it all right under my nose. The stakes are higher, the gore is even more graphic, and even after ten years, the franchise still maintains the same heart.
After five movies and twenty-six years, Scream still continues to prove itself to fans and newcomers alike, using its overt self-awareness to keep the franchise fresh while making fun of what it could have been. Fresh off of their 2019 sleeper hit Ready or Not, directing duo Tyler Gillet and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin helm this fifth installment and pay ultimate respects to late director Wes Craven while hurdling the franchise exactly where it needs to go in 2022.
The film follows the sister duo, Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), who are targeted by a new Ghostface killer and soon discover their ties to the fictional town of Westboro go deeper than they can imagine. Ortega crushes the opening scene, ringing in a new era of scream queens with her blood-curdling cries. It both rivals and parallels Barrymore’s opening kill scene, proving the timelessness of this franchise in the first ten minutes. However, Barrera gives a lackluster performance which is only amplified by her show-stealing scene partners. While I was most excited to see ‘it’ boys Dylan Minnette and Mason Gooding head this sequel, Jack Quaid who plays Sam’s boyfriend, Richie Kirsh, steals every scene he’s in.
When Tara proclaims her love for The Babadook and begs Ghostface to quiz her about Hereditary, I realized how well this film understood its modern, young adult audience. The dialogue is smart, snappy, and snarky, fitting in perfectly with the rest of the franchise, even after ten long years and brand new writers and directors. Maybe the film is not as tight as the original, but there is a sense of evolution that fueled my faith in the revival of this classic franchise.
One of the biggest highlights is the film’s focus on fan reactions to the in-universe “Stab” franchise. The killer targets Tara’s friend group which consists of both newcomers and descendants of legacy characters. Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding) are related to Randy, Wes Hicks (Dylan Minnette) is Judy Hicks’ (Marley Shelton) son and Tara and Sam are related through a shocking twist. At one point, Mindy explains the fall of the Stab franchise and how the eighth film, directed by Rian Johnson, became hated by the fans because of its uniqueness; sound like anything familiar? The new killer seeks to create their own installment, preying on the descendants of legacy characters to revitalize the franchise while still staying close to its core. Self-awareness takes on a whole new level as this film mocks its own tactics and takes a stance on toxic fandoms.
With the third film centering around the cast of “Stab” and the fourth being almost a successful repeat of Billy Loomis and Stu Macher’s original plan, it is impressive how this fifth installment still managed to surprise audiences and revitalize the franchise. In an era where we are rightfully critical and skeptical of reboots and revivals, it is clear that Scream is still kicking because of the immense amount of love and creativity that is still being put into the continuation of this series. After their successful box office debut, I’m excited to see where they plan to go with this new gang of characters… at least the ones that still have their limbs intact.
