STARRING: JENNA ORTEGA, MELISSA BARERRA, COURTNEY COX, DERMONT MULRONEY
DIRECTED BY: MATT BETTINELLI-OLPIN AND TYLER GILLET
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 10, 2023
The Scream series continues. The iconic horror duo, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet, are keeping the franchise alive, unlike the film’s victims. The two are heavily known for their directorial contributions to the horror genre of films. These films include Scream 5 (2022 film), Ready or Not, Devil’s Due, and South Bound. They have maintained their fearful reputation with the release of Scream VI on March 10 of 2023. In the span of 122 minutes, you’ll see stars such as Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barerra, Courtney Cox, and Dermont Mulroney convey what it would look like to encounter a killer on a bloody rampage. Spyglass Media Group, Project X Entertainment, and Radio Silence Productions are all credited for their efforts in producing this movie and it was distributed by Paramount Pictures. With a budget of $33 to $35 million, the film amassed $139.3 million.
After the Ghostface murders that took place in Woodsboro, the four survivors, Sam (Melissa Barrera), Tara (Jenna Ortega), Chad (Mason Gooding), and Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown), leave and seek a new beginning in New York City. But when a new killer goes on a bloody murder spree, they soon realize they are the targets. The four must solve the murder mystery all while trying not to be murdered themselves.
In all honesty, I was a bit lost throughout the film. I would highly recommend watching the prequel that was released in 2022. Because I have not seen it, I didn’t understand the character dynamic, the background, and the plot. I had to make assumptions and guess as the movie continued. When they promoted this film, they should’ve included somewhere under the title that you need to watch the fifth Scream to understand this one.
Due to my lack of knowledge about Scream 5, I thought Tara would have more of a main character role given her history in Hollywood. She recently played Wednesday in the Netflix series “Wednesday” and shocked everyone with her acting abilities. Not only did her stellar performance make her a household name, but she is also constantly trending on TikTok and Twitter. Her sister in the film, Sam takes on the main character role instead. Don’t get me wrong, Tara still delivered as she always does.
As for the ending, the plot twist was sufficient, but SPOILER ALERT, I do think the writers and directors could have hidden the fact that there was more than one killer a little better. It was obvious in any of the scenes when the killer appeared. However, the film was gorier than I expected, and the jump scares literally made me scream in the theatre. No pun intended.
