This put up incorporates main spoilers for “Scream 7.”
It is time for a brand new Ghostface to go on a killing spree. “Scream 7” is upon us, with Neve Campbell returning as Sidney Prescott, taking over the lead position within the collection for the primary time in a very long time. Campbell sat out “Scream VI,” which noticed Ghostface working a bit of otherwise in New York Metropolis for a spherical of bloodshed. However who donned the Ghostface masks this time round to carry Sidney again into the fold? The reply is pretty weird.
The sequel facilities on Sidney Prescott (Campbell), who has managed to construct a brand new, quiet life for her household in a small city. Nonetheless, Sidney’s darkest fears come to gentle when a brand new Ghostface emerges and begins focusing on her daughter, Tatum (Isabel Could). Sidney should face the horrors of her previous as soon as extra in an try to guard her household.
Not too far into the film, after a brutal confrontation at Sidney’s home, the primary Ghostface (not the one Ghostface!) is run over by a automotive pushed by none apart from Courteney Cox’s Gale Weathers, considered one of solely two characters to seem in each single “Scream” film. After pulling the masks off of the physique on the street, the primary Ghostface is revealed to be Karl Gibbs (Kraig Drake), an escaped psychological affected person from a close-by establishment whom Sidney noticed at her espresso store earlier that day.
However it’s by no means that straightforward, and Sidney quickly receives one other creepy telephone name from Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), who seemingly died in the course of the kick-ass ending of the unique “Scream” in 1996. So, Sidney and Gale go on a mission to uncover the opposite killer(s).
Scream 7’s Ghostface is not Stu — it is simply somebody utilizing his unhealthy title
After a variety of back-and-forth between the varied teams, with Tatum main the kids and Sidney off with Gale, the threads start to return collectively. Tatum is in peril following and interview Sidney does with Gale, and one other telephone name from Stu leads Sidney again to city to attempt to save her daughter. A number of extra younger people are dispatched earlier than Sidney heads again residence to avoid wasting Tatum, the place the killers are lastly unmasked. That leads us to the wild ending of “Scream 7,” which advantages from some additional clarification.
The following particular person unmasked is the psychological establishment worker Marco (Ethan Embry), who we met when Sidney and Gale had been searching for clues about Stu. Then comes Jessica (Anna Camp), Sidney’s seemingly pleasant neighbor who’s fixated on somebody from the Prescott household embodying the “remaining woman” archetype.
Sidney’s seemingly pleasant neighbor who’s fixated on Sidney. Initially wanting Sid to turn into her “remaining woman” self as soon as extra, she shifts focus to eager to kill Sidney in entrance of Tatum, thus turning Tatum into the brand new remaining woman, kind of rebooting the “Scream” franchise on this planet of the film. She and Marco, who used to work for Microsoft and is outwardly good with computer systems, used AI deepfakes to carry Stu again from the useless, leaning on conspiracy theories that he by no means actually died within the first place. We additionally get temporary appearances from pretend variations of Dewey (David Arquette), who had probably the most surprising dying in 2022’s “Scream,” in addition to former killers Roman (Scott Foley), and Debbie (Laurie Metcalf) to additional f*** with Sidney’s head.
With the assistance of her should-be-dead husband Mark (Joel McHale), Tatum and Sidney kill Marco earlier than additionally taking good care of Jessica, who briefly escapes solely to actually have her face shot off. Tatum discovered the laborious technique to all the time shoot the killer within the head.
Scream 7 includes a unusual Ghostface trio
“Scream 7” has been met with combined reactions to date, and that is going to occur if you’re this far right into a franchise. It is also a franchise that has introduced new killers every time round, which provides an additional layer of complication and intrigue; it will get more durable and more durable to make the Ghostface reveal pack a punch. This can be a unusual one inside the collection canon.
Director Kevin Williamson, who additionally wrote Wes Craven’s authentic “Scream,” which saved the slasher style in 1996, determined to play with the hazards of AI, one thing very a lot of the time. It is a intelligent technique to carry again Stu, one thing many followers have wished for a very long time. However fairly than do some kind of wonky, “One way or the other, Stu returned” factor the place he is truly alive and truly the killer, they discovered a workaround.
As for a way efficient Karl, Marco, and Jessica are as a trio of Ghostfaces? Private style actually comes into play, however it’s a bizarre grouping. Karl was a convicted killer who served time in a psychological establishment. That feels trope-y, however straightforward sufficient to imagine. Jessica developed an unhealthy, parasocial relationship with Sidney, having survived her personal abusive relationship and brought some misguided classes from Sidney’s ebook. Her motivations are very “Scream”-coded and in keeping with the collection historical past.
Marco is the true outlier right here. How did he get pulled into this? Jessica met Marco throughout her time on the establishment, however how did she discuss him into turning into a serial killer? That is by no means actually addressed, however with out him, the AI deepfake plot machine does not work. In that means, it isn’t precisely hermetic, however seventh entries in long-running franchises are not often squeaky clear. It is the character of the beast.
“Scream 7” is in theaters now.
