Scream (2022)

Scream (chronically as Scream 5) is a 2022 American slasher film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. It is the fifth installment in the Scream film series. Though billed as a relaunch of the film series, the film is a direct sequel to Scream 4 (2011) and is the first film in the series to not be directed by Wes Craven, following his death 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, alongside Heather Matarazzo, Roger L. Jackson, Marley Shelton, Skeet Ulrich, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Neve Campbell, who reprise their roles from previous installments. The film takes place twenty-five years after the original Woodsboro murders, when yet another Ghostface appears and begins targeting a group of teenagers who are each somehow linked to the original killings. Similar to previous entries, Scream combines the violence of the slasher genre with elements of black comedy and "whodunit" mystery to satirize the trend of reboots and legacy sequels. The film also provides commentary on the horror fandom culture, particularly the divide between "elevated horror" and classic slasher films.
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 Betinelli-Olpin and Gillett of Radio Silence 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. The film's production was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so 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.
== Plot ==
Twenty-five years after Billy Loomis and Stu Macher's killing spree in Woodsboro, high school student Tara Carpenter is home alone when she is attacked by Ghostface and left hospitalized.
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 his illegitimate daughter. 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.
== Cast ==
* Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott
* Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers
* David Arquette as Dewey Riley
* Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter
* Jack Quaid as Richie Kirsch
* Mikey Madison as Amber Freeman
* Jenna Ortega as Tara Carpenter
* Dylan Minnette as Wes Hicks
* Jasmin Savoy Brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin
* Mason Gooding as Chad Meeks-Martin
* Sonia Ammar as Liv McKenzie
* Marley Shelton as Judy Hicks
* Skeet Ulrich as Billy Loomis
* Kyle Gallner as Vince Schneider
* Chester Tam as Vinson
* Reggie Conquest as Farney, a Woodsboro police officer
* Heather Matarazzo as Martha Meeks
* Roger L. Jackson as the voice of Ghostface
Previous Scream actors Matthew Lillard (Stu Macher), Drew Barrymore (Casey Becker), Jamie Kennedy (Randy Meeks), Hayden Panettiere (Kirby Reed), Henry Winkler (Arthur Himbry), and Adam Brody (Hoss) provide voiceovers for partygoers who participate in a toast for Wes, which doubles as a tribute for Wes Craven. Additional voice overs in the toast are provided by directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Craven's widow Iya Labunka, previous Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson, previous composer Marco Beltrami, previous editor Patrick Lussier, previous co-producer Julie Plec, and filmmaker Rian Johnson. Lillard also voices Ghostface in Stab 8 and Barrymore voices a school principal. Jamie Kennedy provided the production with unreleased photographs of his younger self to be used as his Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 3 (2000) character Randy Meeks for a shrine in Martha, Chad and Mindy's living room while an image of Panettiere as her Scream 4 (2011) character Kirby Reed is briefly shown, retroactively revealing the character to have survived the events of the film. Footage of Scream 3 star Scott Foley and Scream 2 star Joshua Jackson is briefly shown in a "Stab" film within a film, using footage of the duo taken from the Dawson's Creek episode "The Scare".[better source needed]
James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca of the YouTube channel Dead Meat appear as the hosts of the fictional YouTube channel Film Fails. Christopher Speed portrays Randy Meeks in the film within a film Stab.
Category:2022 films
Category:Black comedy films
Category:American films
Category:2020s horror films
Category:Serial killer films
Category:Slasher films
Category:Horror thriller films
Category:American sequel films
Category:American serial killer films
Category:American slasher films
Category:Films shot in North Carolina
Category:Paramount Pictures films
Category:Spyglass Entertainment films
Category:Scream (franchise) films
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Category:Films starring Courtney Cox
Category:Films starring David Arquette
Category:Films starring Neve Campbell
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