Scream VI

Due to a series of behind-the-scenes issues, some of which are understandable and others which are downright confusing, Neve Campbell did not return. Instead, this entry focuses entirely on Sam Carpenter and the other members of the Core Four (Tara Carpenter and Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin). It also proved to be my favorite entry after the original.

Despite her absence, Sidney’s presence is still felt. It is impossible to ignore that the legacy of Ghostface, and their respective killing sprees, have their origin with Sidney Prescott and Billy Loomis. Sidney was the original target of the very first series of murders, and Billy was the originator of the persona. Even through clever (or, in the opinion of some, not-so-clever) retconning, Ghostface was created by Billy Loomis and his coconspirator, Stu Macher. But, this identity has permeated throughout the decades, and nine people (soon to be a whooping twelve) have worn the Father of Death costume since its inception. Until this film, the mastermind has been related to Sidney or Billy, while their accomplice has been a friend that they roped in or a patsy that they had manipulated. Scream VI centers around Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barerra), so the killers are far more invested in her than Sidney – but, as the previous entry made clear, she is still intimately connected to Billy Loomis.

What makes a Scream film a is its central cast of characters. Usually, they’re a group of friends – though Scream 3 centered on co-workers as the cast of the fictional Stab 3. It’s a whodunnit before it’s a slasher film, so they rarely have ridiculously high body counts. Generally, each film has six to nine victims (not including the perpetrators). Because of that, these films generally give ample time to the development of each of the characters, even if they have only a handful of scenes. Obviously, some characters have it better than others, either by virtue of surviving longer (or simply surviving) or having returned from a previous entry. That doesn’t make a character with a few scenes worse than a character who is prevalent throughout the film. This series is not necessarily about the massacre but the varying character’s reactions to them and their desperate attempts to investigate and ultimately survive them. This is why the Scream franchise has the highest number of survivors than any other slasher franchise. It will introduce characters who are never targeted or implied to be the killer for that matter, and build off of the survivors.

The Core Four, as they are self-proclaimed, first by Chad (Mason Gooding) and later embraced by the others, are the centerpiece of Scream VI. Their shared trauma and attempts to heal from the events of the preceding film are front and center of this film. Chad and Mindy (Jasmine Savoy) are the secondary protagonists to Sam and Tara (Jenna Ortega), but that doesn’t mean they were shortchanged. Throughout the film, we watch Tara and Chad bond, flirting with the idea of a relationship. Certain audience members found it to be unlikely, but one has to remember that the characters don’t exist in a vacuum.

Scream (2022) already established how connected the group of friends was – having known one another since they were children. With everything that Tara and Chad have gone through, is it really hard to believe they would grow closer? It plays into Tara’s attempts to move on from her trauma without truly dealing with it and Chad’s efforts to protect Tara from her darker, self-harming attributes as a result. If the night of the frat party is anything to go by, Chad has been looking out for Tara for the last year, the same as Sam and Mindy. That kind of proximity and bond is bound to blur the lines between friendship and romance.

Much like her uncle Randy (Jamie Kennedy), Mindy views herself as her generation’s aficionado and expert on all the rules and conventions. She has become a bit more jaded since her brush with death, but she is still capable of opening herself up to a new romantic partner in the form of Anika Kayoko (Devyn Nekoda). Anika is the closest any Scream film has come to successfully replicating Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan), Sidney’s best friend and closest confidant. She’s fun, feisty, and fiercely protective of those around her, often at the expense of her own personal safety. Anika willingly remains at the Core Four’s side when it becomes clear they are being targeted by the new Ghostface (voiced by Roger L. Jackson).

As a result, the explanation of the rules, the scenario, and the suspects fall onto Mindy’s shoulders, and she is not above pointing the finger at her girlfriend. After all, not counting the killers from the most recent spree, a full third of them had been the boyfriends of their targets. Mindy is also critical of herself when she believes that she missed the mark on the killing spree for the second time – granted, she is as close this time as she was the last.

Like most of the major characters in Scream, Danny’s name references another major horror franchise, Halloween. Annie Brackett, the best friend and iconic first victim of her friend group in the original Halloween. With her name, all we need is a Strode, Van der Klok, and Simms somewhere, and we’ll have them all. Josh Segarra is a warm and inviting presence in this entry, who is clearly interested in who Sam is, rather than how the rest of the world views her. With the film emulating Scream 2, is it any wonder that they snuck in another Derek?

Liana Liberato plays Quinn Bailey, who is Sam and Tara’s roommate, and the daughter of a police detective, Wayne Bailey (Dermot Mulroney). She is presented as a more sexual character than Scream has ever cared to delve into, with its conversations around sex as it relates to the horror genre being incredibly nuanced.

Dermot Mulroney and Henry Czerny were the two new adults in the cast – the former playing a police detective and the latter playing a therapist. Dermot Mulroney is well known for his roles in conspiracy-based shows, such as 2011’s Crisis and the latter two seasons of Amazon’s Hanna. Here, he plays an overprotective father in a seemingly massive swing in the other direction from Dewey’s original characterization in Scream. Henry Czerny, who recently played the patriarch in Ready or Not, also by Radio Silence (the directors for this entry and its immediate predecessor), was a wild addition to the franchise. He offered a master class on how not to be a therapist, with his treatment of Sam Carpenter bordering on criminally negligent. His actions inadvertently play into the killers’ hands, laying the groundwork for Sam to be implicated in another series of murders.

Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) now becomes the only cast member to have featured in each entry, and she has backtracked on all of her promises from the final moments of Scream (2022). Her incessant need to be involved in other people’s business prompted her to write a book about the third Woodsboro murder spree, where she callously revealed that Sam Carpenter was Billy Loomis’ daughter, laying the groundwork for the smear campaign and conspiracy theories that have painted Sam as the real perpetrator and Richie and Amber as her unfortunate patsies. Gale tries to atone for this, and Sam and Tara are somewhat understanding, but neither can truly forgive her for the chaos she laid at their feet. It doesn’t mean that they abandon Gale in her time of need.

Finally, the long-awaited return of Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) did not disappoint. Since 2011 (or 2010, the films have never been consistent on when the killing sprees occur), Kirby has moved on with her life and joined the FBI to make the monsters become afraid of her, rather than the other way around.

During the first trip to the theater, which has become a shrine for Ghostface and its related details, she focuses prominently on the shrine to Jill Roberts. One rumor that I wished would have been true about the filming of Scream VI would have been a flashback to that night, showing her reaction to all of it, as she claimed what Jill had always wanted by becoming the true final girl.

It also wouldn’t be a Scream film without an awesome opening sequence. Following Jenna Ortega’s character-breaking convention by surviving the initial attack and being alone rather than part of a couple (either romantically linked or as friends), this film takes things up a notch. We are treated to the traditional beats, an attractive young woman is called by somebody who turns out to be the killer, but in a massive twist, we see who is behind the mask. The opening then continues, and we are treated to a second victim.

This film was thematically linked with Scream 2, its focus on sequels, and its key plot points. Despite this, it was able to evolve all of that and take the story in a new direction. While Tara and her friends all attend Blackmore University, it is a mere backdrop to the film, and none of the characters are shown attending classes – though they are mentioned at least once. This allows Scream VI to have its own identity, whereas its predecessor played it a bit closer to the vest when it came to its return to Woodsboro. Like Scream 3, the third entry took itself to a larger, more grandiose locale in the form of New York City. Scream VI did not waste its location even if it was not filmed there. From Gale Weathers’ harrowing chase scene throughout her penthouse apartment to threatening calls in Central Park to the dark and eerie streets of New York, being alone in a big city never felt more threatening.

At its center is the relationship between Sam and Tara, with the former doing everything in her power to protect her little sister, all the while Tara wants nothing more than to move on with her life. Halloween (2018) dealt with the effects of generational trauma, and how it can leave a lasting impact on a family regardless of their proximity to the event in question. Here, we are seeing the devastating impacts of PTSD and the way that four very different people are dealing with it.

Sam has accelerated Sidney’s character arc, but where Sidney initially tried to hide away after the second attack, Samantha is anticipating another one – and is prepared to handle it each and every step of the way. How Scream VI portrays this is not in a good or a bad way. Instead, it highlights both sides. With six, or even potentially more, massacres under Ghostface’s belt, preparing for another attack is not unwarranted. It doesn’t mean that one should stop living their lives, which the Core Four are all struggling to do.

On the other hand, we have Kirby Reed – well over a decade beyond the attacks that tore through her life like a hurricane. As mentioned earlier, the impact of Jill Roberts’ and Charlie Walker’s attack is not something that Kirby has forgotten. It has caused her to alter the course of her life, and take charge of who she is and who she wants to be when the time comes for her to get involved in the next string of Ghostface murders.

Scream VI was even more financially successful than Scream (2022), and it took only a handful of months before a seventh entry was announced, this time to be directed by Christopher Landon, with Radio Silence stepping back into a producing role. As the third-highest-grossing entry, I am not at all surprised. Here’s hoping Neve Campbell, and Patrick Dempsey for that matter, make their triumphant return to the franchise alongside the Core Four.