Scream VI

The Scream movies have always done winking meta-commentary about the tropes of the slasher genre (many of which these movies helped solidify in the first place), but six movies in and all that winking is starting to look less cute and more like a cause for serious concern. Scream VI has the requisite horror elements and stabby violence that are hallmarks of the franchise, but those kinds of delights are well past the point of diminishing returns and aren't aided by a formulaic script and the absence of anything new to say. Basically this is Scream VI: You Know What to Expect and You're Going to Get Exactly That.

This installment continues to follow the kids from the soft legacy reboot of Scream V, including sisters Samantha Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega) and twins Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding). This "core four" has a family tree that traces back to the original Scream, which doesn't matter much from a story perspective but does provide a framework for many of the hundreds of franchise and genre Easter eggs spread throughout the movie, if you're into that sort of thing.

The plot is essentially a Scream Mad Libs template: someone is wearing the Ghostface mask and hunting down people connected with the core four. People are stabbed, phone calls are made and inexplicably answered, each character is suspected of being a killer at least once, and even more people are stabbed until we finally get to a final showdown/reveal. The scriptwriters must've had the phrase "subvert expectations" taped to the wall because that's all they can really try and do to add any energy to this worn out formula. Even the subversions are tropes at this point.

The movie makes some vague hand gestures at larger themes: coping with trauma, the nature of the horror genre and its fandom, conspiracy theories, and (Fast and Furious voice) family, but it's all high-level stuff that gets waved away in favor of the next stab set piece. It's probably unfair to expect a philosophical masterpiece from Scream VI, but it would've been nice to at least try to engage with something a little different.

That being said, the most effective moments of the movie are the tension and suspense of the moments right before the stabs. These movies have mastered the breathless execution of a chase sequence, and there are some effectively chilling moments as a result. The actors are all doing their best, particularly Barrera and Ortega, but it's hard to get past the feeling that everyone seems to be trying to play characters that escaped from an early 2000s teen comedy.

At the end of the day, Scream VI delivers the things that you expect it to deliver, and for many that will be enough, but it's disappointing they didn't try to mix things up a little bit more. If there is a Scream VII, you'll need a whiteboard to keep track of all of the snakes eating their tails.