“Scream VI” Movie Review by Rafy Mediavilla (@Rmediavilla) #ScreamVI #Scream
As a fan of the Scream franchise, it is always difficult for me to up on my critic’s hat and sound objective, but with that being said I will do the best I can not sound like a fanboy while I write this. With a seemly successful restart of the Scream franchise in 2022, Spyglass and Paramount Pictures had big shoes to fill, and while huge risks were taken moving the story to the Big Apple they manage to deliver and make it work, as we see Ghostface run ramping on a killing spree all over Manhattan. I will do the best I can to explain why this movie worked for me without entering into many details.
Story-wise, moving the theme Scream to New York was a huge gamble by the producers yet to me it works perfectly because the city itself played a role in the story and how it played out for all the characters, and was a needed change to bring new and old favorites ones. While Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) is trying to move on with her Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) keeps pulling her back while she continues to struggle with her past, and so the Ghostface kills being in the attempt of hunting them down. This is when Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) and Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) come into the mix and the mystery of who the killers are beings.
Who are the killers being the Ghostface mask? The thing I loved the most about the Scream franchise is this mystery factor where they constantly drop subtle hints to keep you guessing who could be the killers behind the Ghostface mask this time, and while I was able to pick up the pieces by the final act as they story played out everyone had motives behind wanting to kill someone.
What blew me away from how the killings played out was that by the first kill, while it was bittersweet once given, I’m a fan of this actress, the killer revealed his face, and was already in shock that it was going to be the direction we were going to go this time around. Yet this masterful opening was just the first of many subtle misdirection’s of what is going on with many to follow. Another thing that blew my mind was that because of the setting of the kills happening in New York, the writer did not shy away from ignoring that New York is the city that never sleeps, and we are just going to play around with it when if it doesn’t really make sense. The killings these times were also fairly gruesome and gory so keep that in mind coming into this movie.
The performances overall were great. I really have nobody to mention that stands out. Melissa was great as we saw her emotions trying to cope with her past. Courteney was great as her thirst for revenge showed up and her means to put an end to all these also played a role in the development of her character for this story. Hayden was good even though I felt Kirby seems forced and was mainly used to cause a short diversion in how the story plays out. Samara Weaving was superb even with her short-lived stand. Honestly, without entering too much detail everyone did great.
In the end, Scream VI is an overall great addition to the Scream franchise, even though by the final act we may have a déjà vu sort of moment with the motives of the killers, the risk of taking this story to New York works out. Kills were bigger and bloodier, and everyone had their own moment to shine. This is just another Scream movie that you can watch over and over again and enjoy as if it was the first time.
