Scream 7 (2026) Review!!

Synopsis – When a new Ghostface killer emerges in the quiet town where Sidney Prescott has built a new life, her darkest fears are realized as her daughter becomes the next target. Determined to protect her family, Sidney must face the horrors of her past to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all.

My Take – Like most fans of the ‘Scream‘ franchise, I too was quite delighted when the series found itself back in top form, following the lesser reception of Scream 4 (2011), with Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023). Films that introduced a fresher perspective by shifting the focus to new characters, while letting legacy figures linger in the background and finding inventive ways to comment on the horror genre, and resonate with a more media-savvy generation of younger fans.

Yet, the journey leading up to the seventh installment’s release has been quite convoluted. Though the original plan had been to continue the story of the Carpenter sisters, introduced in directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s hit relaunch, but after the shameful firing of star Melissa Barrera who dared to speak out about a genocide, her co-star Jenna Ortega too left, and amidst the creative retooling, the newly announced director, Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day, Freaky) also exited.

Forcing the creatives to make a drastic pivot, and hand back the control to Kevin Williamson, the franchise co-creator and writer of the 1996 original and its three successors, who not just took up directing duties (his first film as director since 1999’s maligned dark comedy thriller Teaching Mrs Tingle), but also re-centered Neve Campbell’s OG Final Girl Sidney Prescott as the focal point of the story. And with the series celebrating 30 years of slicing and dicing, it was meant to be a direct flight towards Nostalgia City.

But in spite of all that, calling this latest installment simply a mixed bag would be the biggest understatement of the decade.

Sure, it includes some solid set pieces, intense chase scenes, and even a couple of jump scare moments that don’t come off as cheap, yet the convoluted plot, the excessive nostalgia elements, the bland characters and uneven pacing drops the ball on keeping the film from becoming the epic return it could’ve been. Instead, making it seem more like a recycled version of what we’ve seen before, just with a bizarre dose of bad tech and an even worse killer reveal.

Most shockingly, director Williamson and his co-writers Guy Busick and James Vanderbilt seemed to have completely missed the point of what made this slasher franchise so unique – films that thrived on deconstructing the horror genre. In their effort to follow the formulas so brilliantly laid out in the Wes Craven era they seem to have forgotten about the nuance and subversive ideas that made each entry a standout.

Up until this point, I could have argued that there has never been an objectively bad ‘Scream‘ flick, as even at the franchise’s less effective moments, there has always been a buzz of effort and energy present, but with this one, it’s apparent that this films now exists solely to keep the IP alive, forgoing inspired self-awareness for sheer laziness, motivated only by commercial ambitions.

Beginning with yet another prologue in Woodsbro town that sees Scott (Jimmy Tatro), a devoted fan of the film series-within-the film series ‘Stab’, getting killed with his girlfriend Madison (Michelle Randolph) at the iconic home of Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), that has turned into an experience destination, by a new Ghostface killer, the story then shifts to the quiet small community of Piney Grove and once again follows Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell).

After finding herself in the middle of several traumatic events, Sidney has built a new life for herself with her police chief husband Mark Evans (Joel McHale) and her three children, which includes her 17-year-old daughter Tatum (Isabel May), named after her childhood best friend. Spending most of her time running a local coffee shop and arguing with her eldest about her boyfriend, Ben (Sam Rechner), who reminds her too much of Billy Loomis.

However, her sense of peace is disrupted when the brutal killings begin once again following a menacing FaceTime call with the supposed to be dead Stu. Once more joined by crime reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and the Meeks-Martin twins, Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding), Sidney sets out to protect her family, unmask this new killer, and find out whether if Stu is really back from the dead.

Indeed, the film does somethings right. Bringing Sidney Prescott back to the center steadies the franchise. The tone feels tighter. The tension feels more deliberate. And the introduction of Sidney’s struggle as a mother is one of the strongest parts of the narrative. There is an earnest effort to examine Sidney’s shortcomings as a mother toward Tatum, given her traumatic past.

Her daughter wants a normal teenage life, but Sidney’s past makes it difficult not to be protective. At the same time, Tatum wants to have a real conversation about her mother’s past, but Sidney is unwilling. For this reason, Tatum has to make assumptions about the gruesome events, including why she was named after Sidney’s best friend, who was murdered in the first film.

I also enjoyed who how the new Ghostface was on the brutality scale. From the fiery yet woefully disconnected opening scene at the Macher house to collecting fresh meat one victim at a time, there’s a reason why this character remains beloved. But, personally, I was shocked by how bad the writing was.

This is a series that has thrived on being smart and for subverting expectations, yet this constantly just feels like a generic slasher trying to mimic the Wes Craven entries, without actually understanding what makes them great. Also, the film features the worst reveal of all. It is impossible to get deeply into why it is bad without diving into spoilers here but the disclosure was both incredibly silly and baffling. It felt like the writers were trying to do something a bit different, and then dissolve all that with one of the sillier killer monologues I have ever seen.

This film had a real chance to bookend the franchise on a strong note. The big buildup in the marketing touches on the potential return of Stu Macher. The possibility of resurrecting one of the best roles by Matthew Lillard was supposed to be a massive treat to dangle in front of the fan base. But they took anything that could have been unique and just washed it down the drain for something that really didn’t make a lot of sense.

Performance wise, Neve Campbell is more than up to the task again. She’s still fantastic in the role and brings that final girl energy that we all know and love. We get to see her grapple with her mothering choices, including guilt over not preparing Tatum for the possibility of yet another homicidal maniac donning the Ghostface mask. However, the same cannot be said about her co-stars.

Joel McHale, Isabel May, Sam Rechner, McKenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mark Consuelos, Anna Camp, Timothy Simons, Michelle Randolph, and Jimmy Tatro do solid work, but they don’t exactly have much to do. The same can be said about Courtney Cox, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding who seem needlessly shoehorned into this film. Their presence makes little to no sense and serves little to no purpose. Nevertheless, it was fun to see Matthew Lillard resurrect one of his best roles till date. On the whole, ‘Scream 7‘ is a lackluster horror sequel that works as a passable entertainer but disappoints as the weakest entry yet.