Believe me when I say I have long anticipated the arrival of the seventh movie from the slasher-horror franchise “Scream.” My roommates and I recently binge-watched the previous 6 movies this past October in an attempt to get in the Halloween spirit. Little did we know we would become so invested that we ended up dressing up as characters from the movies for our costumes. Just as we finished the sixth movie, we were happily surprised to find out that the seventh would be coming to theaters on February 27th, 2026. All this to say, we were SAT at the theater on opening night last Friday, ready to see who would be revealed as Ghostface this time around.
The premise of the seventh movie features the return of Sidney Prescott in her new quiet life, which she has built with her husband and 3 kids. But of course, Ghostface is back, and this time they are after Sidney’s oldest daughter, Tatum (named after Sidney’s best friend, who was murdered in the first film). And if that isn’t nostalgic enough, in the trailers for this movie, we hear a familiar voice of a previous Ghost Face… Stu Macher! Stu was one of the original killers who had been presumed dead ever since the first movie, when a TV fell on his head. However, as per “Scream” franchise rules, no one is ever confirmed dead until they are shot in the head. That being said, it has always been a loose possibility that Stu has been alive this whole time, and this is exactly the idea that Scream 7 plays into.Â
Now, before I continue, I want to say: SPOILER ALERT!! I will be heading into a full breakdown of the storyline with my thoughts and many spoilers for the rest of this article… So be warned!Â
Very early on in the movie, Sidney gets the typical scream phone call from Ghost Face, only this time, when she asks the killer to stop hiding, it switches to a FaceTime call to reveal not only a living, but very threatening Stu Macher. As the story continues, no one is sure if this could actually be Stu, as most characters are assuming it is a deep fake made with AI. Gale Weathers, the only other survivor from the original movie, arrives as news gets out that more murders are happening again. Sidney and Gale investigate the possibility that Stu could still be alive, visiting a mental hospital nearby, where they seemingly get confirmation that Stu has been alive this whole time and was recently released. The movie continues with more threatening calls, chase scenes, and brutal deaths, all to end with all of Tatum’s friends being murdered and a big reveal that the killers were not actually Stu but indeed three patients from that mental hospital who were obsessed with Sidney Prescott. They lied to Sidney and Gale and did, in fact, use AI for the phone calls. The mastermind of them all was actually Sidney’s close friend and neighbor, Jess, played by Anna Camp (she came on screen and I said “aca-scuse me??”). Sidney’s whole family managed to survive, as we got an intense final battle scene where both Sidney and Tatum shot Jess in the face about 10 times. It was pretty gnarly, not going to lie.
Now that I’ve summed up the story, I need to get out all of my thoughts. To be completely frank: I was SO disappointed. All of this build up that Stu could still be alive, and the story coming full circle, for it to just be AI, made me so upset. I understand that the writers thought Stu being the killer would have been too predictable, but honestly, I would have rather it have been predictable than some random characters? The killers were characters we barely met (they each only had about one scene they were in outside of being Ghostface), and their motives were not built up nearly enough. It felt like a lot of details were shoved aside all so they could have a more dramatic reveal, but instead of a shocking twist, all I felt was confusion. It just felt like a waste of Matthew Lillard’s talent to have him come back only to be on phone screens the whole time. There was also no suspense or creepy buildup; they just got straight into the murders. I think the suspense and phone calls are the best part of these movies, so that also left me bummed. I was also majorly disappointed that there were no shocking or heartbreaking deaths. Yes, all of Tatum’s friends died, but that was predictable. We needed a shocking main character death that would have made it feel more meaningful in the greater franchise storyline.Â
Truly, I had hoped that this was going to be the last movie in the franchise. I had predicted that they were bringing Stu back to wrap up the story and bring it full circle, with Stu wanting to finish what he started and kill Sidney once and for all. Honestly, I thought they should’ve had Stu kill Sidney, too, leaving Gale Weathers as the sole survivor of the Ghostface murders, and the saga complete. But hey! Technically, they could still use that idea for Scream 8, as they still didn’t confirm that Stu was actually dead. At a certain point, though, it just feels like, how many movies is too many movies? It’s time to wrap it up, guys.Â
Overall, I did have a fun time, though. At the end of the day, these movies are always a fun watch, and some are just better than others. I would definitely recommend going to see it, as it was fun to have the camaraderie of everyone reacting together in theaters. I will warn you, though, that the deaths have definitely gotten a bit gorier than in past movies. But in general, it was a good time, just storyline-wise it was disappointing. I would say go into it excited for the nostalgia and the references to past movies– not for a great twist or ending. My roomies and I had a great time and definitely had to check the car for Ghostface before we drove away afterwards! So get your friends together and on your way to the theater, ask each other: “What’s your favorite scary movie?”Â