Scream is a 2022 American slasher film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. It is the fifth installment in the Scream film series. Though billed as a relaunch of the film series, the film is a direct sequel to Scream 4 (2011) and is the first film in the series to not be directed by Wes Craven, following his death in 2015. The film is dedicated to Craven at the beginning of the closing credits. The film stars Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Sonia Ammar, alongside Heather Matarazzo, Roger L. Jackson, Marley Shelton, Skeet Ulrich, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Neve Campbell, who reprise their roles from previous installments. The film takes place twenty-five years after the original Woodsboro murders, when yet another Ghostface appears and begins targeting a group of teenagers who are each somehow linked to the original killings. Similar to previous entries, Scream combines the violence of the slasher genre with elements of black comedy and "whodunit" mystery to satirize the trend of reboots and legacy sequels. The film also provides commentary on the horror fandom culture, particularly the divide between "elevated horror" and classic slasher films.
Although fifth and sixth Scream installments were discussed after the release of Scream 4 in 2011, Craven, writer Kevin Williamson, and executive producer Harvey Weinstein had doubts about proceeding with more films following the less-than-expected box office performance of the fourth film. After the 2017 sexual assault allegations against Weinstein and the closure of The Weinstein Company, the rights to the Scream franchise were obtained by Spyglass Media Group in November 2019, who confirmed a new film would later be made. The following year, Williamson, who was returning as an executive producer, confirmed the film would not be a reboot and that Betinelli-Olpin and Gillett of Radio Silence had been hired in March 2020 to direct the film. Campbell and Arquette were confirmed to be returning later that month, with Cox and the new cast members joining throughout the middle of the year. The film's production was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so filming took place between September and November 2020 in North Carolina. To avoid any plot leaks, numerous versions of the screenplay were produced and several additional scenes were filmed.
Scream was theatrically released in the United States on January 14, 2022, by Paramount Pictures, during the COVID-19 pandemic, grossing $140 million worldwide. It was praised by critics for honoring Craven's legacy and offering thoughtful meta-commentary on horror films, with some calling it the best of the Scream sequels. An untitled sequel was announced in February 2022, with a release date for March 31, 2023.
Plot[]
Twenty-five years after Billy Loomis and Stu Macher's killing spree in Woodsboro, high school student Tara Carpenter is home alone when she is attacked by Ghostface and left hospitalized.
In Modesto, Tara's estranged older sister Sam Carpenter is informed by Wes Hicks, one of Tara's friends, about the attack. Sam returns to Woodsboro with her boyfriend Richie Kirsch to visit Tara at the hospital, where Sam is reunited with Tara's friend group: Wes, Amber Freeman, and twins Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin. That night, Chad's girlfriend Liv Mckenzie's ex-boyfriend Vince Schneider, who is Stu Macher's nephew, is killed by Ghostface outside a bar. At the hospital, Sam is attacked by Ghostface. After escaping, she tells Tara that she has been dealing with hallucinations of Billy Loomis, who Sam learned as a teenager was her biological father. Sam's true parentage resulted in their parents' separation and this is why Sam became estranged from Tara.
Sam and Richie visit Dewey Riley, who is divorced from Gale Weathers. They ask for his help in stopping the killer, and he contacts Gale and Sidney Prescott, warning them about the return of Ghostface. Dewey joins them at Mindy and Chad's home and is reunited with the twins' mother Martha, Randy Meeks' sister. Due to the three attacks having targeted people related to the original killers, Sam is accused of being the killer. Ghostface then murders Wes and his mother, Sheriff Judy Hicks, at their home. There, Dewey reunites with Gale, who has arrived in town to cover the story. At the hospital, Tara and Richie are attacked by Ghostface but are saved by Dewey and Sam; Dewey is killed when he attempts to finish off Ghostface.
Sidney arrives in town after learning of Dewey's death and meets both Gale and Sam at the hospital. Sidney asks Sam to help stop the killer, but Sam declines. She chooses to leave town with Richie and Tara, but they are forced to stop at Amber's house to retrieve an inhaler for Tara. Sidney and Gale follow them to the house, which is revealed to be Stu's former home where the original Woodsboro massacre took place. There, Chad and Mindy are both attacked by Ghostface. As Sam tends to an injured Mindy, Amber pulls out a gun and shoots Liv in the head, revealing herself as Ghostface. Fleeing in the basement, Richie speculates to Sam that Tara is Amber's accomplice. Sam leaves him to find Tara and discovers her tied up in a closet.
When Gale and Sidney arrive, Amber shoots and injures Gale. Richie then stabs Sam and reveals himself to be Amber's partner. Richie and Amber take Sam, Sidney, and Gale into the kitchen where they reveal they are fans of the Stab film series who met online. Disappointed in the trajectory taken with the most-recent Stab 8, they decided to embark on a new killing spree, bringing back the "original cast" to provide new-and-improved "source material" for a future "requel" Stab film and intend to frame Sam as the killer. After Tara fights Amber and Sam attacks Richie, Gale breaks free and shoots Amber, who lands on the stove and is set on fire. Sam is injured but sees another hallucination of Billy, which brings her attention to Amber's abandoned knife. Embracing her paternal heritage, she uses the knife to stab Richie repeatedly before shooting and killing him. A horribly burnt Amber attempts to attack the group again but is shot to death by Tara.
Tara and the Meeks twins are loaded into ambulances to be taken to the hospital, and Sam thanks Sidney and Gale for their help. Gale refuses to write about the new murders and give the killers notoriety, opting to write a tribute to Dewey instead. Sam joins Tara in the ambulance and the night's events are covered in a news report.