Welcome back Ghostface! New York City has been invaded by Ghostface and the characters from the previous film are being stalked by a “new type of killer” in the series that revamps the formula (in certain ways) and double downs on the legacy Wes Craven has created for the franchise in his original four movies in the series.
I had the luxury of seeing the Scream VI in 3D on opening night and I genuinely enjoyed the ride; however, 3D is completely unnecessary. This film follows the survivors of the previous film, otherwise dubbed “The Core Four,” as Tara and her friends are in college in NYC and Sam, her older sister, follows her there. There are new characters that emerge as possible suspects and legacy characters, Gale Weathers and Kirby Reed, return to stop Ghostface from succeeding in killing Sam and Tara.
Sam is played Melissa Barrera (Scream 2022, In the Heights) takes the forefront with her sister, Tara, played by Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, You, Scream 2022) as they are adjusting to the new city since the events of the previous film. Tara is trying to get her life back to normal and move on, while Sam is stuck in the past because the urges and feelings she had when stabbing the last killer “22 times” made her feel good. The last film was more focused on Tara, but this one hones in on Sam and her capabilities of taking down anyone trying to kill her or her sister. I wasn’t that big of a fan of Sam in the previous film, but she is a force in this one. Her character grows into her own while Tara finds love and is the only reason Sam hasn’t decided she just wants to be a killer like her dad, who is one of the original killers of the 1996 film played by Skeet Ulrich (Riverdale, Armored, As Good As It Gets).
Aside from the main two, “The Core Four” is rounded out with the Meeks-Martin twins played by Jasmine Savoy Brown (For the People, Missing, Yellowjackets) and Mason Gooding (Booksmart, Love Victor). With Mason Gooding’s Chad being the standout with his performance. The only issue with Jasmine Savoy Brown’s character Mindy is that she simply doesn’t have the charisma her Uncle Randy, played by Jamie Kennedy (Malibu’s Most Wanted, Scream 1 & 2), had in the original two films. Her character is simply the weakest out of “The Core Four” and it is felt.
Since Neve Campbell (The Craft, Wild Things) decided not to return because the studio didn’t want to pay her to be Sidney (which is the main character of the whole franchise!), only Gale, played by Courtney Cox (Friends), and Kirby Reed, played by Hayden Panettiere (Heroes, Remember the Titans, Scream 4), come to assist the Carpenter sisters in New York City to stop Ghostface. Gale has never been called on the phone by Ghostface in all 5 movies she’s appeared in. Her showdown with the killer in her apartment makes for an incredible chase sequence that has a few refreshing responses by Gale, which shows her experience with dealing with these killers. Kirby plays her role well and it’s nice to know that she survived her attack in Scream 4 (which she had it in her contract that her character wouldn’t die). There’s hope that they might reunite with Sidney in a follow-up to this installment, if they can survive this one.
The other cast members are the newbies to the franchise: Josh Segarra (Sirens, Trainwreck, Orange is the New Black) plays Sam’s new love interest Danny; Jack Champion (Avatar: The Way of Water) plays Chad’s roommate Ethan; Devyn Nekoda (Ginny & Georgia, Sneakerella) plays Mindy’s girlfriend Anika; Liana Liberato (Stuck in Love) plays the Carpenter’s roommate Quinn; Tony Revolori (Spiderman: Homecoming, Grand Budapest Hotel) plays Jason, a classmate of Tara’s; Samara Weaving (Ready or Not, Hollywood) reunites with her Ready or Not team as Professor Laura Crane; Dermot Mulroney (Young Guns, The Family Stone, Prodigal Son) plays Detective Bailey, who is out for revenge when his daughter becomes a victim of Ghostface.
The best part of the film are the chase sequences: the Bodega scene with Ghostface wielding a shotgun, the subway rides, the apartment scene that leads to the ladder sequence that has one of the most brutal kills in the franchise, Gale’s apartment when she receives the phone call, and the finale that takes place in the shrine. The trailer didn’t ruin much and you can tell there were other shots used in the trailers to mislead and misdirect the audience when they go see the film. My favorite has to be the apartment scene because Ghostface is ready to go toe to toe with our group and is ruthless in his quick decision to just attack any and everyone (that includes the Bodega scene where innocent people have no hope surviving).
Now, before going into all of the spoilers that happen in this film, I will say that this is one of the best sequels in the franchise and the film breaths new life into what is possible with the franchise moving forward. I highly recommend going to see this movie, it’s worth it and isn’t brought down by the absence of Sidney. I’d give it an 8/10
SPOILER ALERT!!!! Do not keep reading if you haven’t already seen the film. I hate when people ruin movies by giving out the spoilers. SPOILER ALERT!!!! Read at YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
Alright so let’s get into this, I wish Samara Weaving’s opening scene lasted longer because she is awesome in general, but it served well as a misdirect to the real opening kills which was some guy named Greg and his accomplice, Jason (who happens to be the new Ghostface killers shown by Jason revealing himself after killing his professor). The real Ghostface emerges and brutally takes care of them. This opening scene definitely stands out for subverting expectations.
The main issues of the film really come from the creators making it seem that everyone that gets stabbed can pretty much survive any kind of attack or stab and the body count really stayed lower than expected because most of the main characters survived. Hopefully, this is paid off in the subsequent film that is supposed to start filming this October. The other issue is the reveal of the killer(s) and the rehash of pretty much the same thing as Scream 2. If you saw the original sequel to the 1996 film then you already can assume who the killer(s) is by simply knowing it somehow has something to do with the previous killer’s family. I enjoyed the misdirect of the sister of Richie and her fake death in the film, but the brother was the most obvious killer by far. During the apartment scene, he is the only one who isn’t even there and Chad makes it clear to him that he believes that he is the killer; so does Mindy, especially when she gets split up from the group and stuck with him on the subway. But the best part is the fact this is the first time we have 3 killers that emerge working as a family unit to seek revenge against Sam for killing their son/brother when the dad reveals himself.
That’s when the movie gets more interesting for Sam’s character, during the finale, as she embodies her bloodline of killers and goes HAM on the killers because she really is the main threat for anyone dawning the Ghostface mask, and honestly, the mask fits her the best. She massacres the killers and there really isn’t a chance for them once they reveal themselves. Tara even looks at her sister as she notices how intense and insane her sister looks as she stabs and kills the killers, while also playing her role giving a brutal stab in the mouth to the brother of Richie.
At the end of the movie, we find out that pretty much everyone survived. Chad had one of the best scenes fighting Ghostface and then being stabbed countless times in the torso and back by 2 Ghostfaces at the same time and left on the ground only to survive in the end. Bro, there’s no way. He’s been stabbed like 20 times in the last two movies. If they stab him one more time, he needs to die in the franchise because he is a favorite, which would make his death the most heartbreaking, but he also ain’t John Wick. All in all, it’s fine because now he is in the sequel and we can see how this trilogy wraps things up. Mindy also should have been killed but they kept her alive after the subway scene and that wasn’t too big of a deal. Tara and Sam are the main two characters and I didn’t expect them to kill either of them off, but since Tara seems to be the reason Sam stays good and not give into her killer instinct, she needs to be killed off to set Sam over the edge. Which will work out for Jenna Ortega since she is popping up in so many projects now. Sam’s boyfriend stays out of the finale because they weren’t sure if they could trust him, which I believe keeps him on the table as a potential killer in the next one or as a brutal death that could also be a catalyst for Sam. Gale survives her attack which is okay because Sidney isn’t around and she should probably die with Sidney being a part of the film. Kirby survives a gunshot would and another stab and that had me wondering if she had it in her contract again that she can’t die (lol).
In the end, the film is a great time for the majority of the run time and you will have fun, but as a big “Scream” fan I was a little let down by certain choices (like most characters living), however, I’m happy that this film allowed the franchise to reach new heights in the box office and standout amongst all of the sequels. I’m excited for the follow-up and praying they can get Neve Campbell and Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy, Freedom Writers, Scream 3) to return for the next one and get a grand finale to the entire series and possibly setting up Sam as the franchise lead to be a killer after the death of her sister. That’s just my hopes and what I’d want to set up based off of what has come before if I was the writer. Anyways, Wes Craven would be proud of what Radio Silence has done with the franchise so far, now let’s finish strong and bring back Stu (Matthew Lillard, one of the original killers) for the finale against Sidney. (“I’ve always had a thing for you Sid!”) Go check it out, it’s worth it.
