All 6 Scream movies, ranked from worst to best
3. Scream (2022)
Poking fun at movie requels — continuations of stories but with new central characters — the 2022 entry just goes by Scream. Think Halloween (2018), which is the 11th movie in the franchise; or Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022), the 10th movie in the series that’s a direct sequel to the first. The term “requel” is silly, and the fact that so many franchises are being revisited with new movies using the same exact title as the original is just dumb. But with Scream (2022), at least it’s dumb on purpose.
Scream (2022) takes place 25 years after the original movie and follows estranged sisters Tara (Jenna Ortega) and Sam (Melissa Barrera). Once Tara is attacked in her Woodsboro home by the new Ghostface, Sam must come back home and face her traumatic past. It’s revealed that Tara is actually the daughter of Billy Loomis, and she has visions of him throughout the movie that are a little bit jarring but overall not too bad.
The movie makes a great first impression, with the opening scene being the best since the first movie. And this time around, the person being targeted doesn’t actually die. Tara is stabbed and hospitalized but actually makes it to the end of the movie. It’s a fresh take on the iconic opener that was very well-received by viewers.
We get to see the legacy actors return as supporting characters, including Neve Campbell as Sidney, Courteney Cox as Gale, and David Arquette as Dewey, along with a diverse cast of newcomers. They include Yellowjackets star Jasmin Savoy Brown, Booksmart‘s Mason Gooding (who happens to be Cuba Gooding Jr.’s son), The Boys actor Jack Quaid, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood‘s Mikey Madison, and 13 Reasons Why star Dylan Minnette.
Every Scream movie is violent, but Scream (2022) definitely ramps up the blood and gore. It’s also the most suspenseful installment since the first. We say goodbye to a legacy character in Dewey when he’s killed by Ghostface; it’s a controversial move but it really worked for me. More horror franchises should kill off main characters. It’s effective!
But there are some valid criticisms of the movie, like some of the acting. I don’t want to bully anyone in particular, but Ortega acts circles around some of her scene partners, and sometimes it honestly feels like watching a bad B horror movie when she’s not around.
But any bad performances are made up by the Ghostface reveal when we find out Sam’s boyfriend Richie (Quaid) and Tara’s best friend Amber (Madison) are the killers. Madison absolutely carries the last act and has some of the best moments of the whole movie. From her surprising reveal by shooting Liv (Sonia Ammar) to accidentally catching herself on fire, her scenes are gripping.
Scream (2022) is the first movie in the series not directed by Wes Craven; the legendary filmmaker passed away in 2015. New directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett dedicated the movie to him, and considering how much it still feels like such a Scream movie in all the best ways, I hope I’m right in thinking he’d be happy with it.
