Scream (2022)

Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
Starring: Melissa Barrera, Jack Quaid, Mikey Madison, Jenna Ortega, Dylan Minnette, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Mason Gooding, Sonia Ammar, Marley Shelton, Skeet Ulrich, Kyle Gallner, Heather Matarazzo, Roger L. Jackson
Running Time: 114 min.
Rating: R

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

After years of devolving into more of a parody than the slasher films it was supposedly satirizing, the fifth Scream returns to its meta roots with a smart, wildly entertaining whodunnit that offers up a shockingly intelligent, multi-layered commentary on modern horror. Consider it the Cobra Kai of the series, expertly balancing the returning legacy characters with well written and performed newer ones that actually have the potential to stick around, injecting the franchise with its first signs of life in over a decade. It would be easy to understand if Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (collectively known as Radio Silence) decided to get out now and leave on top, as they've just made the definitive sequel with this fifth installment, or at least the first in a very long time that doesn't feel like a Scary Movie follow-up. 

Everything that could possibly go right does here, and the few things that don't carry a critic proof defense because of the knowing, self-referential machinations of the plot, which feel fresh and of the moment. Between a more brutal, unrelenting Ghostface, some new twists on familiar franchise tropes and a delicate incorporation of returning characters, it cleverly introduces "Requel" to the pop culture lexicon while taking shots at elevated horror and toxic fandom. Of course, we already knew what the word entailed, but screenwriters James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick cleverly send up that entire idea, breathing new life into what had become a tired property.

Twenty-five years after Billy Loomis and Stu Macher terrorized Woodsboro, high school student Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) receives a frightening landline phone call from the Ghostface killer while texting her friend Amber (Mikey Madison). Tara's brutal attack brings her estranged older sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) back to town with current boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid). Soon, they meet up with Amber, Wes (Dylan Minette), twins Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding) and Chad's girlfriend Liv McKenzie (Sonia Ammar), who all piece together that Ghostface has returned and is likely among them, with the killer or killers motivated by something from the past.  

As the body count rises and mistrust within the group quickly escalates, Wes' mom, Sheriff Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton), tries to narrow down the suspects while Sam and Richie recruit the now retired Dewey Riley (David Arquette) to reluctantly help. But he's still aching over his divorce from morning TV host Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), whom he warns along with Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) to stay far away from Woodsboro. But with the kills continuing, that might be a request both find impossible to honor, as Tara's friends all look to expose each other as Ghostface before it's too late.      

Right from the opening phone call it's evident this film will subvert whatever expectations remain from Drew Barrymore's iconic 1996 scene. It basically takes that entire sequence and flips it, with results that prove to be the ideal lead-in for the direction they've chosen to go. Roger L. Jackson continues his successful streak as the mysterious, sinister voice quizzing victims on scary movies, but puts a different spin on it that lets us know the sequel's really come to play. And since there's usually a new Ghostface (or sometimes multiple ones) in each new installment, it makes sense that this one would be particularly dangerous since they've had a lot of source material to study. This makes it hard to recall any previous entry where the killer seemed as forceful and unrelenting in their attacks. 

There are a lot of gruesome, uncomfortable scenes, mainly because the filmmakers rarely cut away from the action, often lingering for a disturbing amount of time as victims stare right into Ghostface's eyes. It's something you'd almost expect to see in a Halloween film, but represents a massive leap forward considering too many Scream pictures had a tendency to make a total joke of the killings. And for all the talk about rules and tropes, the characters aren't walking cliches or lazily written modern counterparts to their predecessors despite varying connections to them. They also give Ghostface some grueling fights, making the Woodsboro slasher's job tougher than it's ever been, in large part due to their familiarity with history. It's definitely not business as usual so kudos should go to the studio's marketing team for holding back in trailers and commercials to ensure key details weren't given away.

It's not exactly fair to label Melissa Barrera's Sam the "Final Girl" since that doesn't carry with it any guarantees she makes it to the end, or even that she's not the killer herself. But she can comfortably be called the lead protagonist since it's her that much of the action revolves around. As major connective tissue between the original and newer characters, she has a dark, Dexter-like secret that the screenplay fleshes out extremely well, with Barrera believably delivering a lot of expository dialogue and nailing it. The fractured sibling relationship between her and Jenna Ortega's Tara powers the narrative, as former Disney actress and You star Ortega not only fills Barrymore's shoes, but goes more than a few steps further, registering physical pain, fear and trauma in a realistic manner that hasn't exactly been a hallmark of the series up until now. 

Ortega's work ranks amongst the best we've gotten in any Scream sequel, but nearly equaling her is a sarcastically likable Jack Quaid, who kind of channels a late 90's Joshua Jackson as Sam's boyfriend Richie, getting to deliver many of the script's most cleverly satirical lines. Jasmin Savoy Brown is also a huge standout as kind of a modern take on Jamie Kennedy's horror rules-obsessed Randy Meeks, and for good reason, since her character's his niece. The rest of the newer cast is also uniformly excellent, with Dylan Minette carrying a memorable, Psycho-inspired sequence that uses misdirection to mine maximum suspense in a playful way that the other films have rarely explored to this extent.  

It's a while before David Arquette's Dewey appears, and while his previous appearances have meant less with each subsequent film, this feels entirely different. Like a veteran gunslinger called to action for one last stand, there's a tinge of sadness and regret in Arquette's performance that wasn't there before. Whether you want to chalk it up to age, experience or simply being given something meaningful to dig into this time, it's a high water mark for him. His complicated relationship with Courtney Cox's Gale Weathers also strikes a surprisingly bittersweet note without sacrificing any of the warmth or humor associated with the character.

Similarly, Scream queen Neve Campbell is in this only as much as necessary as Sidney, fully completing her evolution into the Jamie Lee Curtis of the franchise, minus the latter's timeline confusion. Her return is carefully handled, dovetailing nicely into the current storyline but never overwhelming it. Sidney offers sage advice while quickly reestablishing herself as a badass fans know and love, all with the recognition that she can only go so far and that these kids are going to have to face this, with or without her help. Campbell doesn't miss a beat, taking full advantage of a script that finally shows the character the respect she's owed, but in an appropriately impactful supporting role that doesn't overstep its bounds. By doing this, the film proves the franchise can have a future without her, should it ever come to that.

By this point, the Stab movies within the movies provide more of an inspiration for the killings than the actual sequels, so it's fitting that the rules have shifted focus from surviving to actually uncovering Ghostface. Using them to cleverly reference this franchise's stumbles and address a lot of popular online complaints about other soft reboot attempts turns the tables on hardcore fans for a change. No previous entry has leaned into the whodunnit aspect as well or strongly as this, luring the characters and viewers into a false sense of security regarding who's responsible. They'll always be watchers claiming they "knew the whole time," but the ingenious aspect to this script is how it has everyone second-guessing themselves because certain picks just seem too obvious, or maybe not obvious enough. 

While rumors are true that original Ghostface, Billy Loomis, appears in hallucinatory form thanks to some de-aging technology on Skeet Ulrich (that admittedly doesn't look great), the bigger story is that it serves the story rather than feeling like a stunt. It's also brief enough that any complaints are skillfully covered by the context in which he's used. The last act is a bit long, but the final reveal justifies it, featuring one of the more wildly unhinged Ghostface portrayals we've seen, as one particular performer chews all the scenery in sight while literally and metaphorically returning to the scene of the original crime. It's a perfect balance brutality and absurdity when the curtain's pulled back on the intricasies of this wacko meta plan. There's also a spectacular death scene that provides the ultimate in-joke for those familiar with the recent career of the actor involved.

So much discussion has centered around how a new Scream film could possibly stay true to the late Wes Craven's vision and still manage to creatively fill the tank for any potential future installments. But this threads that needle so convincingly that those who skipped the sequels wouldn't miss much. And yet, it still acknowledges them in the best of ways, playing fast and loose within that timeline to spring even more tiny surprises on us. With a sense of renewed purpose, the legacy characters return in a logical manner that supplements an already tight story, enabling the actors to bring a welcome gravitas to their roles that's gone missing for too long. It finally feels like the right amount of time has passed for their presence to mean something again and the filmmakers really work to make it count. Better yet, this only further facilitates the efforts of the new cast, many of whom have earned another go-around. And it's definitely been a while since we could say that.