“What’s your favorite scary movie, Sidney?”
“Scream 7” was released to theaters on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, making it the last film to carry the official “Scream” title.
After four movies of being the main target of various Ghostface impersonators, one movie of being attacked in someone else’s story (because she’s the original) and one hiatus away from the franchise for salary disputes, Sidney Prescott is back for one last fight.
Prescott invented the role of the “final girl” in the slasher film. Sure, Laurie Strode bested Michael Myers in “Halloween” a few times and Nancy Thomson made her mark in “Nightmare on Elm Street,” but it’s hard to beat Prescott’s streak.
It’s also hard to imagine why someone would try to come after Prescott again in the Ghostface mask, after she’s killed five people who’ve worn it.
Still, in “Scream 7” Prescott is once again taking center-stage as her daughter, Tatum (named after her best friend who was killed in the original “Scream”), becomes Ghostface’s newest target.
Spoilers For the Ending Ahead
The big question of “Scream 7” was: Now that the original final girl is back for one last fight, is the original killer, Stu Macher, back for one last kill?
With Matthew Lillard’s name on the cast list and wide speculation about his reappearance in the series, the film certainly set up the possibility of his return. And when Macher FaceTime calls Prescott and threatens her daughter, taunting the idea that he is back for her, the audience can almost believe he’s returned.
But that would be too easy.
No, Stu Macher did not survive his original scuffle with Sidney, much to my displeasure. Honestly, I was disappointed to find out our first Ghostface killer wasn’t making a return with Sidney. Being the only killer to have not been shot in the head, as per Prescott’s mantra, “you have to shoot them in the head, or they come back,” Macher was the only previous Ghostface who could make a logical return to the franchise.
Instead, his video calls were just a mirage to incite reminders of Prescott’s past. In fact, the true killers didn’t seem to have a motive beyond wanting to radicalize her daughter into the “new and improved Sidney Prescott.”
Tatum had her good moments, shooting through the wall, hitting her ugly boyfriend in the head with his own laptop and ultimately getting a couple of headshots off at Ghostface to end the reign of terror, but she’s not Prescott. It was hard not to get frustrated with her when she made a bothersome mistake after her mother had already told her one thousand times to always go for the head.
While the reveal was disappointing and the plot lackluster, seeing Prescott and Gale Weathers on the big screen again was enough to justify the movie. The kills were brutal, the killer creative and Prescott was as strong as ever.
If there is one thing Prescott is going to do, she’s going to survive. That’s our final girl.