I thought that the 2022 Scream film was a very solid new film in the series, but I thought it needed to be a lot better to be worthy of an 8/10. I do not want to spoil my score, but I thought Scream 6 is an even better entry into the series. I regret my decision to give Scream (2022) a 7/10 as my only main issue was the film felt like it leaned on the legacy characters too much. I think Scream 6 put the focus back on the new characters (introduced in Scream 2022) while also honoring the legacy characters. I did solve the identity of the killer (sort of), but I am not sure how many people would really care because the mystery of the killer(s) identity was never the most interesting part. The thrills from the kills and chases is what has always made the series interesting, along with the series own self awareness. The mystery around whom the killer might be is fun, but whether you guess right or wrong I think Scream 6 is enjoyable. There were a few things that took note of during the movie, and at a certain point the realization of who I thought the killer was came to me. The clues are not obvious, but if your paying attention I think most will solve the identity of Ghostface.
I am trying to avoid spoilers here so I will be careful with what I say, but I thought the reveal made sense for what we saw. The creative team behind Scream (2022) was also the same team responsible for Scream VI so if you enjoyed Scream (2022) than this is just more what you were looking for. The use of New York was only partially effective as I wish it was more evident at times where they were. They made use of the subway, central park and the atmosphere of New York was there in others. It is a small criticism that is hampered by the fact that Ghostface attacking in New York would be a lot harder since it is a busy and crowded city. This is the first film that really felt like it brought back a lot of the cast with the appearance of Mindy, Chad, Sam, Tara, Gale and now Kirby. I think moving on from the legacy characters of Sidney, Gale and Dewey is a good thing as it made more time for the new characters. I really enjoyed the film, and I think it did do enough things better than its predecessor. I think Scream 6 is a worthy new entry into the franchise, and it is worth watching for fans of the series.
RECAP OF 'SCREAM VI' ...... SPOILERS AHEAD
The film opens with Laura (played by Samara Weaving) who is waiting inside a restaurant for her date to show up. Laura met her suitor online, so this is going to be their first face-to-face meeting. Laura gets a call from the guy saying he is lost, and that he needs her help to find the restaurant. The guy asks Laura what color is the front of the restaurant, so Laura goes outside to look. The guy mentions that he is getting close and that he is at the other end of the alley across from the restaurant. The guy tells Laura that he is being followed and he asks her for help, so Laura enters the alley. The voice on the phone changes to Ghostface, and he admonishes her for entering a dark alley knowing since she is a film studies professor, and she should know better than to enter the alley. The killer attacks, and stabs Laura to death before removing his mask and revealing his identity, a student of Laura's named Jason (played by Tony Revolori). Jason heads home after the kill, and he crosses paths with Tara (played by Jenna Ortega) who is off to a fraternity party. Jason gets home, but is roommate is not there, but he thinks he is because the television is on. Jason gets a call from his roommate who sounds like Ghostface, and while Jason thinks he is talking to his roommate he finds out his roommate is dead. Ghostface appears, and kills Jason because Jason and his roommate had a plan to kill Tara and Sam which Ghostface wants to do.
Sam is in therapy with a therapist (played by Henry Czerny) who encourages her to open up about what has happened to her. When Sam explains who her father was, and what she did to Richie the therapist abruptly ends the session. Since the first film Sam has been subject to conspiracy theory rumors that maintain that Sam was the killer who framed Richie. Sam returns home to find Tara gone so she asks their roommate Quin (played by Liana Liberato) where Tara is. Sam goes to the fraternity party to bring Tara home, but Tara is mad that Sam is ruining her fun. Quinn says she understands Sam's protective nature as she lost her brother and when she went to school in New York her father transferred to New York too. With news of the murder of Jason, Quinn calls her father who is a New York City detective to ask for more details on the case. Mindy (played by Jasmin Savoy Brown), Chad (played by Mason Gooding) and Sam want to leave the city, but Tara refuses to go. Mindy's girlfriend Anika (played by Devyn Nekoda) and Chad's roommate Ethan (played by Jack Champion) are also now members of the group.
Sam's talks to Quinn's father Detective Bailey (played by Dermot Mulroney) who asks Sam to come to the station for questioning as Sam's ID was found at Jason's apartment. Sam and Tara leave to go to the police station when Sam gets a call from Richie's number. The caller is Ghostface, and he says that he is going to ruin Sam's life before killing her. The killer attacks Sam and Tara on the street where they run into a convenience store for protection. The killer enters and kills two innocent bystanders, but Sam and Tara avoid him until the police arrives and the killer escapes. At the police station FBI agent Kirby Reed (played by Hayden Panettiere) talks to Sam and Tara as she was involved in the Woodsboro murders in Scream 4. When leaving the station Sam and Tara are accosted by reporters; one of them Gale Weathers gets punched in the face by Tara after she wrote a book about the evens of Scream 5. Back the apartment the group discusses the next step, and the first plan is to stay together. Sam confesses to casually seeing the hot guy in the building Danny (played by Josh Segarra).
The first part of the plan falls apart as the killer was in the apartment and kills Quinn's guest and then attacks Quinn throwing her blood covered body at the rest of them. The killer slashes Mindy, and stabs Anika before being locked out of the bedroom. The others made it to Danny's apartment across the alley by way of crawling on a ladder, but Anika falls to her death as Ghostface shakes the ladder. Quinn's father arrives with the police and after checking out the apartment he tells Sam that he will help catch Ghostface to avenge his daughter. Gale finds out that Jason and his roommate had rented an old movie theater and turned it into a Woodsboro killer shrine with memorabilia from all of the killings. The new killer has been leaving the masks worn by the other killers at all of the crime scenes. Sam's therapist as he is killed and his notes on Sam are taken by the killer. They setup a sting operation where Sam and Tara will walk around Central Park waiting for the killer to call or attack while the others are nearby. The killer calls, but he is not at the park, they trace the killer's location to Gale's apartment. Gale is attacked by the killer, and the fight is brutal but the killer stabs Gale in the stomach, but before she is killed Sam and Tara arrive causing Ghostface to run off.
Gale is alive, but she is in bad shape as the attack took a toll that will keep her out of action for the rest of the movie. Kirby and the gang plan to lure Ghostface to the theater where they will trap him inside. The gang makes their way to the theater on the subway, but Mindy and Ethan don't make it onto the same train as the others. Mindy is attacked while on the train, and she is stabbed in the stomach and Ethan drags her off the train and calls for help. Everyone else makes it to the theater, but Sam tells Danny to wait outside since she can no longer trust anyone. Kirby brings everyone inside, but Bailey calls Sam and tells her that Kirby is on a leave from the FBI because she has gone crazy. Sam wants to leave, but the doors are locked and the killer attacks Chad and Tara with Chad being killed by the two Ghostfaces. Tara and Sam escape, but a third Ghostface arrives trapping them inside as Kirby reappears looking bloody. The killers reveal themselves to Ethan, Quinn and Bailey and the reason is that they are the family of Richie. Bailey blames Richie's death on Sam and Quinn was the one fueling the online rumors that Sam was the real killer.
Kirby manages to shoot Bailey in the chest (he was wearing a bullet-proof vest) giving Sam and Tara a chance to get away. Tara kills Ethan with a knife while Sam shoots Quinn in the head leaving only Bailey alive. Bailey attacks, but Sam eventually stabs him and Tara kills him. There is a post-credits scene where Mindy tells the audience not every movie needs a post-credits scene.
VERDICT ON SCREAM VI
I thought that Scream 5 was great reboot of the franchise without actually rebooting it, as the film transitioned the new cast ahead of the legacy characters. I thought Scream 4 was a good ending for the legacy characters, and I felt that only Dewey was given a strong story in Scream 5. Sidney was thrown in because she is Sidney, and Gale's appearance made sense, but I never understood why her and Dewey were no longer together. The decision to move Scream 6 was good as they used the city for some of the kills, but the city felt empty at times which is probably rarely the case. The acting by the entire cast was solid, but Mindy, Chad, Sam and Tara unsurprisingly were the standouts for me. I really think that the new core (minus Chad) is really good, but the premise of the series would imply they could not all keep escaping alive. In this film we lost Chad (RIP), and while I hate that Chad had to go not all of them could make it out of this film alive. Chad's death was a heroic one as he didn't ask to be saved, he encouraged them to run. Bringing back Kirby made sense, though using her as a red herring is something I was never fooled by. I did doubt Kirby's status as an FBI agent, I never believed for a second that she could have been the killer. Kirby is a character who could appear again in the role of providing assistance to Sam, Tara, and Mindy. I hope we see Kirby again, and I am fine if Sidney gets her happy ending and is never seen again.
The choice of killers for this film made total sense to me, and that was how I guessed the identity of the killers. Somewhere around the halfway point of the film I realized who the killers were and I guessed the why. When Jason was killed at the beginning the killer did it so he could kill Sam, and he also mentioned he didn't care about movies. The motive for killing Sam implied a personal reason, and the not liking movies was interesting. The killer had to be someone who had no interest in movies, and then Quinn later mentioning she lost a brother and that her father transferred to New York was also interesting to me. When Quinn was killed, you never saw her physically attacked, and she had blood on her, but no real wounds. I also thought it was weird that Detective Bailey remained on the case involving his daughter's murder, and when we saw him in the precinct nobody was treating him differently. I was sure that Quinn and Bailey were the killers, but when we saw three of them I knew the final one had to be Ethan. Ethan was a boring character, and while he played the naive and innocent guy expertly, he also did not fit in with the group. I think I figured it out because of the not liking movies line, and Quinn death seemed staged. I am not sure if anything but ardent fans of the franchise would be as hyper aware as I was during the movie.
I am going to give Scream VI an 8/10, as I thought it was an improvement on Scream 5, but me figuring out who the killer was is keeping it from a higher score. Scream VI was very entertaining, and there was never a moment in the film where I felt my concentration lapse. The opening kill involving Jason was fun as it had a twist of the audience seeing who Ghostface was, but that it ended with another twist was even better. Sam continuing to fight her murderous urges is another interesting part of the story that I hope they will continue to explore in future films. I also liked that they lessened Gale's role in the film as I felt that the new cast deserved more of the screen time in the film. While I do not think any film in the franchise can ever be better than the original Scream, I think Scream VI came as close as any other film has. I do hope that Danny sticks around as I liked the character, and I think there is more they can do with him going forward. I highly recommend that you see Scream VI, and while it helps if you've seen the other five films, seeing Scream V is the most important one to watch.
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