Official Trailer
Rating: 6.2/10 | Genre: Horror, Mystery, Crime | Runtime: 114 min
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Isabel May, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding
Scream 7 exists in this weird space where it feels like it knows exactly what it is but isn’t sure if that’s enough anymore. The movie brings back the legacy characters we actually care about, which is smart. Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott is older now, settled down, and trying to live a normal life. Then a new Ghostface shows up and her daughter becomes a target. It’s the setup we’ve seen before, but the movie at least tries to make it matter this time around.
The problem is that by 2026, the Scream formula is getting tired. We’ve had meta commentary on horror movies for so long that it’s stopped feeling fresh. The killer’s motivations boil down to typical revenge stuff, and while the movie addresses that Sidney’s past keeps coming back to haunt her, it doesn’t really dig into what that means. It just happens.
Neve Campbell carries the weight of this thing pretty well though. She looks tired in a way that feels intentional, and there’s a scene where she’s trying to protect her family while dealing with PTSD from everything that’s happened to her that actually lands. Courteney Cox is fine as Gale, but honestly her character doesn’t have much to do except show up and remind us she exists. It’s disappointing because their dynamic used to be the heart of these movies.
The newer cast members, especially Isabel May and Jasmin Savoy Brown, try their best with what they’re given. But the script doesn’t give them much personality beyond “screaming victim” and “sarcastic survivor.” Mason Gooding gets some moments where you think his character might surprise you, but then the movie moves on before anything interesting happens.
The kills are fine. Not creative, not particularly gory, just functional. There’s one sequence early on that’s legitimately tense, but after that the movie settles into a rhythm of jump scares and obvious red herrings. The pacing is a problem too. At 114 minutes, it should move faster than it does. There’s a whole middle section where the movie just spins its wheels before the third act finally kicks in.
What bugs me most is that Scream 7 had an opportunity to actually say something about legacy and generational trauma. Sidney dealing with her daughter being targeted could have been profound. Instead, the movie uses it as just another reason for Sidney to go into action mode. The emotional core that could have made this special gets pushed aside for the same plot mechanics we’ve seen six times already.
Look, if you loved the original Scream movies and just want more, you’ll probably get something out of this. It’s not bad. It’s just not interesting. It hits the beats you expect it to hit. The reveal of who Ghostface is works well enough, and there’s a moment near the end that actually gave me some hope the movie was going to do something unexpected. But then it didn’t.
Scream 7 is a perfectly adequate horror movie that exists because Scream 6 made money. It’s not embarrassing, but it’s also not necessary. If you’re going to spend two hours watching this, you’ll be entertained. You just probably won’t be thinking about it much after you leave the theater. Do you think this franchise still has stories worth telling, or has it officially run out of steam?
Where to Watch
Stream on: Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount Plus, Paramount Plus Basic with Ads, Claro tv+
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