Movie Review - Paramount's Scream 7

Fear hits home.

Scream 7 is a 2026 slasher film directed by Kevin Williamson, written by Kevin Williamson and Guy Busick, produced by Spyglass Media Group and Project X Entertainment, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It stars Neve Campbell and Isabel May. This is the seventh film in the Scream franchise. It was preceded by Scream VI.

"I'm not going to hurt her until you are here to see it." - Ghostface

Plot

Sidney Prescott is now living away from her trauma with her police chief husband and rebellious daughter. However, the past comes knocking when a new Ghostface emerges, now targeting her family alongside her.

The Sweet

I went into Scream 7 with some tempered expectations. I was cautiously excited for this film before it came out, and, as reviews have been trickling in, I had heard it was a disappointment and one of the weakest films in the franchise. I am obviously a little bit late to the party, so I was prepared for this movie to not be that good.

The thing that works best for Scream 7 is the thing that works best for all the Scream movies with the exception of Scream VI: Sidney Prescott. Neve Campbell returns as horror's best final girl in the lead role for the first time since Scream 4 and really her first time being the main focus since Scream 2. It's great to see Sid in a different stage of life. Seeing her as a wife and a mother is really interesting, because it feels like an evolved version of this character that we've all been watching for thirty years. We haven't really seen her processing the trauma of so many Ghostface encounters and the years of fame that she must get as the real star of the Stab franchise. I loved her relationship with Tatum and her sensitive way of being overprotective. Sidney's always had this quiet strength and charm to her that really comes through in Scream 7, and I was very happy to see it.

This film also has some great kills and fun Ghostface sequences. I guess that just comes with any Scream movie, but this one finds new and inventive ways to have Ghostface use his bowie knife to gut people like a fish. Scream is not known for having super memorable kills, but this newer run of films has really given us some violent Ghostfaces, so it was nice to see that trend continue here.

I actually really loved watching Sidney's family life, which isn't just attributed to her. Tatum and Mark were both really great additions to the film. I think if the movie surrounding her were stronger, Tatum would be one of the most exciting new parts of the Scream franchise, because Sidney's daughter has a lot of strength and resilience similar to her mother, but also has this rebellious teenage side to her that I really enjoyed. An eighth Scream is inevitable, so I'd love to see Tatum and Sidney actually have a full film with Sam and Tara. That would be tons of fun.

And, if you love the Scream franchise, this film really leans heavy on the nostalgia and callbacks to the previous films. It's not overdone. It's sprinkled in there, but there's a lot of fun moments, whether with Ghostface or with Sidney and Gale, that will put a smile on your face. This is not a spoiler because it's been teased in the trailers and announced by the studio, but Matthew Lillard reprises his role as Stu Macher in this film, and, although he's used sparingly, he's a lot of fun. I think the way they used him made sense for this new generation but it also didn't strain too much credibility (which cannot be said about the rest of the film).

Overall, if you enjoy the Scream movies, it's hard not to at least have fun with this one. We will get into the negatives, but this still has all the bones of what makes the franchise work. The tension of an unknown Ghostface killer combined with the meta humor that makes Scream so iconic is just a great formula that I will always find watchable, even if the movie itself isn't amazing.

The Sour

Unfortunately, a lot of the complaints about Scream 7 are merited.

A Scream movie can be made or broken by a great Ghostface reveal. Scream VI was one of my favorite films in the franchise...until the third act derailed it a little bit and made it one of the more middling entries. Scream 7 pretty easily has the worst Ghostface reveal of any Scream movie...and it's not even close. When the mask came off, I literally turned to my friend who I saw it with and asked him who that character was. And when we get the inevitable speech about their motivations...oh boy, was it rough. The words are English and the sentences are structurally complete...but whatever the character was saying was just complete nonsense.

So, because the third act kind of destroys the movie, it makes you look back at everything that happened before and question what exactly it is that they were doing. One of the things that this Ghostface does that I thought was cool was using AI to mess with Sidney and our other characters...but when you find out who Ghostface is, it makes you wonder why they were using AI in the first place.

Scream has always required some suspension of disbelief, but this movie pushes that a bit too far. There are so many insane lapses in logic that it just felt like the movie wasn't being serious at a point in time. When main characters get stabbed once, they struggle to get up and continue fighting. When Ghostface gets shot (even without a bulletproof vest), he can get up and disappear in the blink of an eye without anyone noticing. When your movie abandons all logic, it's hard to take anything seriously.

I was also pretty disappointed in the side characters that we got here. Gale, Mindy, and Chad all return, and they're fine. Not incredible, but fine. As I said, I really enjoyed Mark. But Tatum's friends were incredibly dull. They are basically all given one personality trait that makes them suspects for being Ghostface (which is literally noted by Chad and Mindy in the movie) and that's it. They have zero real personality. Besides her boyfriend, we barely get a sense of their friendship with Tatum. When some of them are killed, you feel absolutely nothing because you just don't really care about these characters. Scream has always delivered very strong side characters, so that may have been the most frustrating thing about this movie.

And I think that's the ultimate problem. I said the side characters felt dull, but really, the whole movie felt dull. There's a spark that ignites whenever Sidney is on screen, but even her presence isn't enough to save this movie from feeling bland. The fact of the matter is that, before this, the Scream movies had been directed by one of the greatest horror filmmakers of all time (Wes Craven) and a fantastic, energetic up-and-coming directing duo (Radio Silence). Kevin Williamson is a screenwriter. He has one directing credit before Scream 7. The entire movie just feels a little bit off, and I cannot help but attribute that to Williamson's inexperience as a director.

I wish I had a better feeling about this movie, but, being within 24 hours, I can already feel the recency bias wearing off. This movie is just too nonsensical and too dull to be considered a good movie. I don't think it will age well. As time goes on, I just expect to be more bothered by the gaps in logic and the terrible Ghostface reveal. Hopefully the next Scream gets us back on track.

Final Thoughts and Score

Scream 7 has all the makings of a good movie, but a dull execution and a terrible Ghostface reveal make this one of the weakest and most disappointing films in the franchise.

I am going Sour here. Age range is 13+.

SWEET N' SOUR SCALE

Sweet (Great)

Savory (Good) Sour (Bad) Moldy (Terrible)

"Scream 7"

Fun Factor: 7.5/10

Acting: 7.5/10

Story: 4.5/10

Characters: 6/10

Quality: 5.5/10

Directed by Kevin Williamson

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language, frightening themes and images, thematic elements

Released on February 27, 2026

1 hour and 54 minutes

Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott-Evans

Isabel May as Tatum Evans

Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers

Joel McHale as Mark Evans

Jasmin Savoy Brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin

Mason Gooding as Chad Meeks-Martin

Sam Rechner as Ben Brown

Anna Camp as Jessica Bowden

Asa Germann as Lucas Bowden

Jimmy Tatro as Scott

Michelle Randolph as Madison

Mckenna Grace as Hannah Thurman

Celeste O'Connor as Chloe Parker

Mark Consuelos as Robbie Rivers

Tim Simons as George Willis

Ethan Embry as Marco Davis

Kraig Dane as Karl

Matthew Lillard as Stu Macher

Roger L. Jackson as Ghostface