It is rare for a sixth instalment of an iconic film turned franchise to stand up against its predecessors. After the lacklustre 5th instalment of the Scream franchise, released 11 years after the 4th, it is a relief to say that Scream VI (2023) revives the franchise in a way its precursor was not able to. Referred to within the film as the “sequel to the requel”, Scream VI, directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, takes the story fans love to New York City, playing into the plots and characters of its past storylines and using these callbacks to propel this new generation of Scream films into new and exciting territory. This time around, anyone can be killed. Anyone can be Ghostface. And in a city as large as New York City, that means a lot of victims and a lot of suspects.

Scream VI follows sisters Sam and Tara, who have moved to New York City following the murders of the 5th film in Woodsboro. Grappling with the heavy truth that her father is Billy Loomis, Sam struggles as online rumours spread that she is the real killer behind the murders of the 5th film. For Sam, trying to get help with the truth about her father and rumours spreading is hard, and her search is not made any easier with the arrival of a new Ghostface, now on a new murdering spree in New York City.

The film is packed with callbacks and references to past films. While making for a nostalgic and exciting ride for previous fans of the franchise, the overall plot does not dwell on these old stories and their individual gripes. As the murders follow patterns traced back to the previous 5 Ghostface murders, these references pay homage to these performance of the past, while still remaining wholly devoted to propelling the current story of Sam and Tara forwards. Rather than placing these references simply for audience satisfaction, the callbacks to previous Ghostface killers have a function in the narrative, all leading to the penultimate ending: the battle between daughter of (one of) the original Ghostface killers, and 2022’s latest. These references to the past, as achieved in Scream 2-4, are packed enough for devoted fans, and utilized strongly enough to keep the franchise going without leaving the viewer to dwell too much on what is missing in this new instalment from the original fan-favourite film. New fans will leave the theatre excited to check out the prior 5 films, while devoted fans will leave excited to re-watch their favourite Ghostface killers on the silver screen once more, all looking forward to seeing Sam and Tara inevitably return in the next Scream film.

A Scream film would be nothing without its references to movie and horror tropes, present in prior instalments and horror films in general. Despite it being the 6th film in a franchise so commonly quoted and discussed in modern discourse on horror films and the slasher, the reveals and twists remain shocking and believable. Nothing has become too predictable in the Scream universe, and the slight twists each film of the franchise has made in their fairly repetitive narrative arcs keep even the most seasoned Scream fans on their toes, anticipating the killer’s reveal. With slight variations to the “rules” of the film each time, there is always a possibility to see one’s favourite character gutted by Ghostface themself, or to somehow survive until the end of the movie with the most brutal battle wounds. The opening murders of the 6th film, an iconic staple to the Scream films, provide jaw dropping changes to the source material from just minutes into the film. These updates lean into the first of the many small changes from the original formula of Scream films, leaving the audience wanting more of this comforting unpredictability they have come to expect from Scream films. These changes subvert expectations just enough, with the inclusion of past beloved characters with unknown motivations, still remaining true to the tension and twists at the core of the original films.

Similar to the 5th film, Jenna Ortega gives a strong performance in the 6th film at playing the younger sister, plagued by the Ghostface killer. It is Melissa Barrera, playing Sam, who steps up her game in the 6th instalment and performs mountains over her own lacklustre performance of the 5th. Providing depth to the character that she seemed to lack in the 5th, as the anxious and controlling sister looking out for those she loves, Barrera provides a much stronger performance as the latest final girl of the new generation of the famous slasher series.

Scream VI stands on its own as the latest instalment of the Scream franchise. With audience expectations low after the disappointing performance of Scream (5), the subtle twists the 6th instalment takes on the generic formula of the Scream films, as well as improved performances of the final girls, all work to make Scream VI go down as a new fan-favourite instalment of the beloved slasher franchise.

Scream VI is playing now theatres across Canada.