It’s somewhat remarkable that a franchise once defined by its razor-sharp self-awareness now feels so uncertain about what it wants to be. With Scream 7, the series attempts another recalibration with the return of Neve Campbell after her absence in Scream 6. While her presence brings a welcome sense of legacy and continuity, it also underscores a growing reality: centering the narrative around Sidney Prescott once again feels less like a homecoming and more like a well the franchise is struggling to stop revisiting.
The opening set piece initially suggests a film with energy to spare. It’s a playful, well-constructed sequence that briefly rekindles the spirit that defines the series. For a moment, Scream 7 felt poised to deliver the kind of clever, crowd-pleasing thrills audiences expect. Unfortunately, that sense of fun proves to be short lived. What follows rarely matches the verve of its introduction, settling instead into a strangely subdued affair.
Scream has always thrived on a delicate balance between tension and humor, but here that equilibrium feels noticeably absent. The few pockets of comedy that do surface serve as reminders of what’s missing. They land effectively (there is a particular scene at the very end that made me laugh out loud), but the scarcity only highlights how desperately the film needed more of them. Compounding this is a general sense that many of the actors themselves aren’t fully invested in the proceedings, especially the supporting ensemble. Previous entries occasionally struggled to make every character memorable, but Scream 7 takes this to a new level. The film introduces a roster of new faces yet provides little reason to care about any of them. Without meaningful development or distinct personalities, their eventual fates carry minimal emotional weight. The result is a narrative that unfolds without any material suspense.
Visually, the film also represents a step down. Original Scream writer, now first-time franchise director Kevin Williamson takes the helm, but the camera choices felt uninspired. Additionally, the production design at times feels surprisingly thin, leading Scream 7 to have a noticeably cheaper aesthetic than its predecessors. This slightness extends to the narrative as well. There is an AI-related subplot that ultimately has nothing substantial to say. And the thematic underdevelopment does not stop there; the entire Ghostface reveal landed with a thud. Rather than delivering a shocking or satisfying twist, it feels resigned to the inevitability of its own predictability. Twenty minutes into the film I had already guessed the Ghostface and that’s a huge problem in a whodunnit.
Scream 7 isn’t without its moments, but they’re scattered across a film that rarely feels fully alive. For a franchise built on wit, tension, and reinvention, this latest installment suggests a series searching for a compelling reason to continue.
