Scream

It is the fifth installment in the Scream film series and a direct sequel to Scream 4 (2011). The first in the series not directed by Wes Craven, who died in 2015, the film is dedicated to Craven at the beginning of the closing credits. The film stars Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Sonia Ammar,

with Marley Shelton, Skeet Ulrich, Roger L. Jackson, Heather Matarazzo, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Neve Campbell reprising their roles from previous installments. The plot takes place twenty-five years after the original Woodsboro murders from Scream (1996), when yet another Ghostface appears and begins targeting a group of teenagers who are each somehow linked to the original killings.

Although fifth and sixth Scream installments were discussed after the release of Scream 4 in 2011, Craven, writer Kevin Williamson, and executive producer Harvey Weinstein had doubts about proceeding with more films following the less-than-expected box office performance of the fourth film. After the 2017 sexual assault allegations against Weinstein and the closure of The Weinstein Company, the rights to the Scream franchise were obtained by Spyglass Media Group in November 2019, who confirmed a new film would later be made.

The following year, Williamson, who was returning as an executive producer, confirmed the film would not be a reboot and that Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett had been hired in March 2020 to direct the film. Campbell and Arquette were confirmed to be returning later that month, with Cox and the new cast members joining throughout the middle of the year. Filming took place between September and November 2020 in North Carolina.

To avoid any plot leaks, numerous versions of the screenplay were produced, and several additional scenes were filmed. Brian Tyler, a frequent collaborator of Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, was hired to compose and conduct the film’s score, replacing Marco Beltrami, the composer of the previous four films.

Scream was released in the United States on January 14, 2022, by Paramount Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the direction, performances (particularly Campbell’s) and tribute to Craven, with some calling it the best Scream sequel. It was also a box-office success, grossing over $138 million against a production budget of $24 million. A sequel, Scream VI, was released in March 2023.

In Modesto, Tara’s estranged older sister Sam Carpenter is informed by Wes Hicks, one of Tara’s friends, about the attack. Sam returns to Woodsboro with her boyfriend Richie Kirsch to visit Tara at the hospital, where Sam is reunited with Tara’s friend group: Wes, Amber Freeman, twins Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin, and Liv McKenzie.

That night, Liv’s ex-boyfriend Vince Schneider, who is Stu’s nephew, is killed by Ghostface. After an encounter with Ghostface at the hospital, Sam tells Tara that she has been dealing with hallucinations of Billy, who Sam learned as a teenager was her biological father. Sam’s true parentage resulted in their parents’ separation, and this is why Sam became estranged from Tara.

Sam and Richie visit Dewey Riley, who is divorced from Gale Weathers. They ask for his help in stopping the killer, and he contacts Gale and Sidney Prescott, warning them about the return of Ghostface. Dewey joins them at Mindy and Chad’s home and is reunited with the twins’ mother Martha, Randy Meeks’ sister. Mindy deduces that the killer is making a “requel”, using Tara and her friends as the new generation and using Sam’s connection to Billy as a way to weave the legacy characters.

Ghostface then murders Wes and his mother, Sheriff Judy Hicks, at their home. Dewey reunites with Gale, who has arrived in town to cover the story. At the hospital, Tara and Richie are attacked by Ghostface, but are saved by an arriving Dewey and Sam. Sam, Tara and Richie escape, but Dewey is killed when he attempts to finish off Ghostface.

Sidney arrives in town after learning of Dewey’s death and meets both Gale and Sam at the hospital. Sidney asks Sam to help stop the killer, but Sam declines, choosing to leave town with Richie and Tara. Sidney and Gale follow the trio to Amber’s, which is revealed to be Stu’s former home where the original Woodsboro massacre took place.

While a party is in progress to honor Wes’ memory, Chad and Mindy are both attacked by Ghostface. As the friend group convenes, Amber pulls out Dewey’s gun and shoots Liv in the head, revealing herself as the killer. Sidney and Gale arrive, and Richie is revealed as Amber’s accomplice. He stabs Sam, and he and Amber take Sam, Sidney, and Gale into the kitchen where Sidney had first faced off against Billy and Stu.

Richie and Amber reveal they are fans of the Stab film series who met online. Disappointed in the trajectory taken with the most-recent Stab 8, they decided to embark on a new killing spree to bring back the “original cast” and provide new-and-improved “source material” for a future Stab film, then frame Sam as the killer.

Sam attacks Richie and Tara attacks Amber but is incapacitated; Richie goes after Sam while Sidney and Gale fight Amber together, ending with Gale breaking free and shooting Amber, who lands on a turned-on stove and is set on fire. Richie pursues Sam, who sees another hallucination of Billy, which brings her attention to Amber’s abandoned knife.

Embracing her paternal heritage, she uses the knife to stab Richie repeatedly and fatally cut his throat, before shooting him to ensure he is dead. A horribly burnt Amber attempts to attack the group again but is shot to death by Tara.

Tara and the Meeks twins are loaded into ambulances to be taken to the hospital, and Sam thanks Sidney and Gale for their help. Gale promises not to write a new book about the new murders and give the killers notoriety, opting to write a tribute to Dewey instead. Sam joins Tara in the ambulance and the night’s events are covered in a news report.