Year of Release: 2026
Director: Kevin Williamson
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Isabel May, Anna Camp, Joel McHale, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Celeste O'Connor, Sam Rechner, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Matthew Lillard, Kraig Dane, Ethan Embry, Mark Consuelos, Victor Turpin, Amy Louise Pemberton
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review
Writer/director Kevin Williamson had his first produced script released 30 years ago, courtesy of Wes Craven's partnership, which resulted in the release of "Scream". Since then he has had a very robust screen writing career, particularly for the small screen, and this new installment of the "Scream" franchise is in fact his sophomore directorial feature, following "Teaching Mrs. Tingle" (originally called "Killing Mrs. Tingle"). This new chapter of the "Scream franchise finds Sidney Prescott, now going by her married name of Sidney Evans, living in Pine Grove, Indiana. She is married to the chief of police, Mark Evans, runs a popular coffeehouse, and is raising her children, including her oldest teenager, Tatum (with whom she experiences some friction). She starts receiving videocalls of what appears to be Stu, one of the original killers from 30 years ago. This older "Stu" threatens to go after Tatum to get her attention. Ghostface kills Tatum's friends Hannah and Aaron, and flees as the police arrives. Ghostface strikes again, this time around at Sidney's place, who barely manages to escape with her daughter to a panic room that exists in the house. As the killer pursues them both as they flee the house, he's run over by Gale Weathers, who is in town with her assistants. Sidney recognizes the killer, since he had bought coffee at her place hours earlier. As it turns out he was a murderer who escaped a nearby mental institution. Sidney and Gale suspect there's more than one killer, which is typical with Ghostface, and Sidney agrees to an interview on live television hoping to lure "Stu", or whomever is impersonating him. As it turns out that ploy does work, as another Ghostface attempts to kill Tatum who is with her friends at a local tavern.
While the previous two episodes of this franchise were directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and featured scripts from James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick (Vanderbilt is well known for having written David Fincher's "Zodiac"), this one is written by Busick and Kevin Williamson, who also directs. One of the most obvious aspects about this film is how it obviously cannibalizes its own mythology, but also as the narrative reaches its climax, how ludicrous and underwhelming that third chapter turns out to be. It literally turns out to be a film that doesn't know what to do with its characters, repeating strategies, plot lines, since the writers obviously didn't know where to take these characters, or for that matter, properly develop them. The strained relationship that exists between Sidney and her oldest daughter is never fully explained, and that character remains in perpetual "rebel mode" for the entire duration of the film. Even for a teenager that is a big grudge to carry. The director is able to establish Sidney's new existence in very quick brush strokes, but there's nothing particularly distinctive or insightful about this character and this universe she created for herself: that idyllic life seems Hallmark manufactured, and turns out to be, something the director captures without a hint of irony, something these films always managed to have or at least be self aware of their own machinations. Ultimately this is a film that is a low grade copy of some of the episodes of the series, only one that features none of the snarky edge or even intelligent references the other episodes had. The cast tries their best with the material they have, with Neve Campbell giving the film its only impact, with Courteney Cox lending good support, though even their best efforts can't make this feature memorable. The production team is rather generic. Now in its third decade of existence, the creative team behind this series should challenge itself with producing better scripts to keep it going, as opposed to moving ahead with non-sensical material that comes across as an attempt to make money. This is a missed opportunity and a mediocre feature.
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