Ghostface is back and more brutal than ever in Scream 2022.
It’s been more than a decade since the last Ghostface killings. This time, a new Ghostface starts targeting a new generation of Woodsboro children, all of whom have some sort of connection to the past.
Ghostface (voiced by Roger L. Jackson once again) first attacks Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), who is home alone. The opening scene is reminiscent of the opening scene of the original Scream, though Ghostface seems much more violent than the previous incarnations.
Tara survives the attack, but it prompts Wes Hicks (Dylan Minnette), the son of Sheriff Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton) to reach out to Tara’s sister Sam (Melissa Barrera), who has been absent from Woodsboro for several years. Sam’s boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid) accompanies her to her hometown.
Ghostface attacks twice more, killing once, and telling Sam he knows her secret she is desperate to keep quiet, even from her sister. Sam doesn’t trust the police given her own history with the Woodsboro Police Department, so she and Richie travel to the home of Dewey Riley (David Arquette), the now-retired former sheriff.
Dewey is reluctant to go after Ghostface again, but changes his mind after he warns Sidney (Neve Campbell), now a married mother of two, and his ex-wife Gale (Courteney Cox), who is now a morning show anchor in New York.
Sam meets with Tara’s friends, whom she used to babysit, at the home of the Meeks family, where Randy Meeks’ niece and nephew Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding) live with their mother Martha (Heather Matarazzo). The group is rounded out by Wes, Liv (Sonia Ben Ammar) and Amber (Mikey Madison). Sam reveals her secret to the group, and the group deduces that someone amongst their group is likely the killer.
Further Ghostface attacks draw both Gale and Sidney back to Woodsboro. The events of the film culminate in the former home of Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), the second killer in the original film.
The new cast members largely carry the weight of this film. This provides a nice change of pace for the film, as it doesn’t solely focus on Sidney, Dewey and Gale as the previous films did.
That’s not to say that the golden trio of the franchise doesn’t have big roles to play. In fact, they have some of the biggest scenes of the movie. Easily the best non-horror parts of the film are the interactions between these legacy characters, especially when Dewey and Gale reunite. Their reunion will leave you in tears when you learn why Dewey and Gale split up and how that left both of them feeling.
Scream 2022 features the welcome return of franchise legacy characters Sidney Prescott, Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers.
Like the previous films, Scream is self-referential. The most obvious part of this is the film follows the structure of a Requel, where new characters are front and center and legacy characters play a role that’s not as large as their previous ones. In addition, as Dewey and Gale are no longer married in this film, it reflects the real life relationship of David and Courteney, who divorced in 2013, but are still a big part of each other’s lives as they co-parent their daughter.
The finale of the film will keep your heart pounding as you watch the heroes take on Ghostface and it will keep you on the edge of your seat. Co-directors Matt Bettnielli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and executive producer and franchise creator Kevin Williamson are responsible for bringing this masterpiece to life.
It’s safe to say horror master Wes Craven, whom the film is dedicated to, would be proud.
Scream 2022 is in theatres everywhere.
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