Category: Good

Messages and Meaning

Scream 7 chose its themes well—traumas from the past, the desire not to be a victim, the friendship between Sidney and Gale. But none of the themes were explored in depth. Instead, each was given a cursory treatment, sometimes charming, sometimes just boring. Still, the iconic final girl continued her triumph over evil, and the humor remained on point. Scream 7 didn’t have much meaning, but it managed to preserve the spirit of the series.

Plot

The plot had the difficult task of justifying Sidney Prescott’s return as the main character. And in a sense, it succeeded. Sidney had a strong presence as a powerful woman, and her legacy from the previous films was not tarnished. On the other hand, however, the story was not of a high enough standard for Sidney. We saw the usual murders, plot lines, and twists. But considering that this is Scream 7, the bar should have been raised. Something different was needed. For example, the whole movie is about how Stu and Sidney outsmart each other while both wearing the mask and voice modulator. This would also fit in with the dynamics with the police. Sidney, on the one hand, is married to a police officer, and on the other, has lost faith in the police and seeks justice through the sinister costume. This way, the reference to the first part with the attack and the umbrella would make sense.

Instead, we got the usual teenagers, who were more boring than in the previous films, clumsy scenes with Gale, and mediocre shootings of the bad guys.

Which brings us to the biggest flaw. Of the entire series, Scream 7 offers us the most boring killers. No connection to the characters, no depth to their motives, nothing interesting about them. They were created by the random killer generator often used in films of this genre.

Characters

The new characters offered us nothing, and we had to rely on the presence of the old ones.

Sydney – Still, it’s Sydney, and the mere fact that she’s here is enough. And she managed to prove that she’s still relevant. But beyond that, she was given nothing. Her friendship with Gale came to nothing, her family was too conventional for such a traumatized person, and we didn’t see anything new in terms of action.

Gale – Great first scene for her appearance in the film and… that’s it. Gale had no action scenes and we didn’t learn anything else about her except that she was on medication and couldn’t conduct interviews. She definitely deserved better.

Important details

• The scene where the killer jumps out of the attic is insane. There’s no way the police would search the house but miss the attic. And Sidney would never miss it for anything in the world.
  
• There was no humor in the film series about Sidney’s life, which has always been part of Scream, and here the opportunity was missed.
  
• When the killer came back to life again, it was wonderful and a very good comedic moment.
  
• The murders themselves were both brutal and sufficiently overplayed so as not to be stressful, which is a difficult balance to achieve.