Ghost Face slashes the March box office with the sixth installment of the slasher-horror Scream film franchise. According to Collider, “Scream VI” “exceeded expeditions in its opening week,” setting a franchise record at the domestic box office to $44 million. This surpassed the former Scream 4’s $34 million domestic box office opening weekend revenue. This installment of the nearly 30-year-old series is a direct sequel to 2022’s “Scream,” the self-proclaimed “requel” of the beloved horror franchise. That said, “Scream VI” is not done yet. At the time of writing, the film is looking to cement its place in the longstanding series. With current global revenue at $116 million, it is making short work of its predecessor’s global gross revenue of $137 million.
Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega reprise their roles as the sister duo Samantha (Sam) and Tara Carpenter alongside their “Scream” (2022) co-stars Masson Gooding (reprising his role as Chad) and Jasmin Savoy Brown (as Chad’s sister Mindy Meeks-Martin).
Since we left our characters in Woodsboro, Calif., our core four has traveled across the country to attend Blackmore University in New York City. Here we meet Ethan Landry, the quiet bookworm and roommate of Chad, played by Jack Champion; Quinn Bailey, a student at Blackmore, roommate of Tara and Sam, a daughter to an NYPD detective, Wayne Bailey played by Liana Liberato; and Anika Kayoko, played by Devyn Nekoda, a student at Blackmore and Mindy’s girlfriend.
The film starts with our four survivors trying to assimilate into college life, attending classes, and parties at Blackmore University. We even see Sam attending therapy with Dr. Christopher Stone, played by Henry Czerny, to help her cope with traumatic events that occurred in Woodsboro. This perfect facade is shattered when Sam is called by Detective Wayne Bailey about her California I.D. being found at the murder scene of two Blackmore students.
After a run-in with Ghostface and an action sequence seen in a prerelease trailer for the film, Sam and Tara make their way to detective Bailey. Sam is confronted with the online conspiracy theory that she is the actual mastermind behind the Woodsboro murders. Just as it looks like detective Bailey has made up his mind on Sam, he gets a knock on the interrogation room door and is told that the FBI is taking over the case. Lo and behold, Hayden Panettiere (reprising her “Scream 4” role as Kirbey Reed, the sole survivor of the 2011 Woodsboro massacre) is the FBI field agent sent to cover these most recent Ghostface murders. After being released the next day, Sam and Tara get stopped by another scream legacy survivor Gale Weathers (played by Courteney Cox). With the stage set and a majority of the cast together, our legacy survivors and college students try to find who’s dawned the mask without losing their lives in the process.
Overall I give the film 4.5 out of 5. It is a great sequel to 2022’s “Scream” and keeps all of the things that made that film feel like a breath of fresh air on a 30-year-old story. The self-aware references to the “Stab” film series inside of the Scream universe, and Mindy trying to be the detective in this installment of the life-or-death game of clue that they are all reluctantly contestants in, brings brief breaks in the more tense parts of the film. I also enjoyed the subtle but sophisticated hints that were dropped throughout the film that I didn’t initially catch on to but slowly put the pieces together when the credits rolled. Simultaneously, I didn’t like how it felt like the film was afraid to take bigger risks when it came to the fates of this installment’s cast, along with some subplot lines that I thought could have been better explored. “Scream VI” surpassed my expectations and makes me want to watch it again to see all of the clues I missed in my first watch.
