--- title: "Scream" year: 2022 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/scream-2022" fi1m_score: 66 critics_score: 67 critics_reviews: 25 published: "2026-09-19T15:57:24.939671+00:00" updated: "2026-09-19T15:57:25.240836+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Scream (2022) Directed by Tyler Gillett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin · 1h 54m · MPA R · Horror, Mystery **Fi1m score: 66** · Critics 67 from 25 reviews *In a sentence:* Ghostface has read the fan forums and would like to discuss them with you at knifepoint > The fifth *Scream* is a bloody, well-built slasher with a fine opening and a David Arquette we did not expect, wrapped in so much talk about sequels that it forgets to be frightening. Worth it for the kills, if you can sit through the seminar. ## Synopsis Woodsboro, a generation after the murders of 1996. Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) is home alone when the house phone rings and a stranger’s voice asks about scary films; the front door locks itself and a figure in a Ghostface mask attacks her. She survives, and her estranged older sister Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) returns to town with her boyfriend Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid), carrying a secret that ties her to the original killings. Tara’s friends, among them the twins Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Wes Hicks (Dylan Minnette), begin working out who the killer wants next. Sam turns to the former sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette), who tells her to leave, then calls Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) to warn them. ## Review Twenty-six years after Wes Craven’s original, Ghostface is back in Woodsboro. This fifth [*Scream*](https://film.one/film/scream), directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett from a script by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, is a decent slasher with a first-rate opening, kills nasty enough to earn its 18 certificate, and one performance that caught us off guard. It is also a film that stops every ten minutes to tell you what kind of film it is, and by the second hour we had heard enough. The opening is the best thing in it. Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) is alone in a large suburban kitchen when the house phone rings, and the voice on the line asks her favourite scary film. She says she prefers the sort of horror that has themes and names [*The Babadook*](https://film.one/film/the-babadook), and we laughed, because the film knows exactly which of its viewers it is teasing. Then the voice starts describing her house, the front door locks itself, and we stopped laughing. Brett Jutkiewicz shoots the house in warm lamplight with the dark held just outside the glass, and the attack, when it comes, is long, close and ugly. Then the film starts talking. Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), Tara’s estranged older sister, comes back to town with her boyfriend Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid), and Tara’s friends gather to work out who wants them dead. Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown), the group’s film obsessive, lays out the rules: this is a requel, not a sequel or a reboot, and the killer will go after anyone connected to the murders of 1996. It is a good speech, and it is also the studio explaining why it made the film. Vanderbilt and Busick return to the idea again and again, with jokes about angry fans and the film-within-the-film *Stab*, and each time it is a little less funny. Around the hour mark we stopped enjoying the joke and started waiting for the next knife. The new cast is uneven. Ortega is the find: she spends most of the film in a hospital bed and still makes Tara the one person we worried about. Barrera has the harder job, a heroine with a secret she cannot say out loud, and she plays it as a single note of clenched anxiety the script never lets her vary. Mason Gooding, as Mindy’s twin Chad, and Mikey Madison, as Amber, the friend Tara was texting when the phone rang, get a trait each and not much more. Dylan Minnette’s Wes gets one long sequence in a kitchen, built from open doors and a running shower, that is the film’s best piece of staging. David Arquette is the surprise. Dewey Riley has left the sheriff’s office and lives alone in a trailer with a drink to hand, watching Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) present breakfast television from a long way off, and Arquette plays him without any of the old comedy: a man stabbed too many times for too little thanks, and aware of it. When Sam turns up asking for help and he tells her to get out of town, we felt something we had not expected from this series, which was sadness. Sidney Prescott arrives late, calm and capable, and the film gives her little to do except be Sidney Prescott. The killing is done properly. Ghostface has always been a clumsy murderer, tripping over furniture and taking kicks to the head, and the directors keep that, but the knife goes in more often and deeper than before, and Michel Aller holds on the wounds where an earlier film would have cut away. Chad Keith gives Woodsboro open-plan kitchens and glass doors, every room with three ways in. Brian Tyler and Boys Noize put an electronic pulse under the orchestral stabs, and it does its job without our noticing, which for a slasher is praise. Craven’s film was sharp about the rules because it was also frightened of them; the jokes came from people who thought they might die anyway. This one is sharper and less frightened. See it in a cinema if you can, with a crowd that shouts at the screen; at home the kills still land but the speeches land harder, and you will find yourself answering back. Bring someone who has seen the first four. It runs 114 minutes and carries an 18. *Fi1m score 66, published 19 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics are pleased to have Ghostface back. Eighteen of the twenty-five reviews are positive, and the praise gathers in the same places: the running joke about requels and toxic fandom, which many find sharper than expected, and the kills, which several find bloodier than before. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are credited with keeping the pace up and the tone steady. Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega are well received, and David Arquette’s return draws warm notices even from reviewers who like little else. The reservations cluster around familiarity. Several of the positive reviews concede the film treads old ground, and the sceptics push that further: the self-reference wears thin, the scares are few, and the legacy characters sit awkwardly beside the newcomers. The spread is wide. The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter and The Times all find it smug and fright-free, and The Times objects to its digs at films such as Hereditary. ### Reviews we read (25) - **The Guardian** (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it the smartest, funniest and stabbiest Scream since the 1996 original, praising how it harnesses fan fury as a plot device in this requel mixing heritage characters with new blood. They note it revamps the formula of knowing references and tropes for a new generation but feel the franchise has come full circle. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jan/16/scream-review-the-smartest-funniest-instalment-since-the-original) - **Empire**, Ben Travis (80/100, inferred): The directors deliver a worthy legacy sequel that keeps the spirit of the franchise alive with fresh twists and strong kills. It is fast, funny and ferocious as a Scream movie should be. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/scream-2022/) - **Radio Times** (4/5): The critic praises the strong new ensemble and pointed commentary on toxic fandom and Hollywood, calling it the strongest Scream in years despite some familiar ground. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/scream-2022-review/) - **IndieWire**, Jude Dry (B): The overly self-referential film delivers a satisfyingly scary franchise continuation with returning stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/scream-review-ghostface-1234689950/) - **Total Film**, Jamie Graham (75/100, inferred): Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett craft a slick entry that understands the series’ mix of slickness and sickness. The franchise isn’t ready to die yet. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/scream-5-review/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Katie Walsh (70/100, inferred): The new installment is even bloodier and just as winking and self-aware as its predecessors, delivering classic self-aware chills while updating the franchise with debates on elevated horror and requels. It passes the torch effectively to new leads like Melissa Barrera amid strong bloody violence and meta commentary. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-01-13/review-new-scream-delivers-the-same-self-aware-chills-as-its-classic-origna) - **RogerEbert.com**, Brian Tallerico (70/100, inferred): The film smartly balances references to the originals while avoiding excessive self-aware smugness, delivering a consistent yet distinct entry focused on craft and effective set pieces. It succeeds as an actual horror movie for fans steeped in the franchise's meta conversations. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/scream-movie-review-2022) - **Screen Daily** (70/100, inferred): The review notes the film's clever self-reflexivity and real-world commentary on toxic fandom and fear, but finds the ideas and kills less sharp than earlier entries in the series. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/scream-review/5166493.article) - **The AV Club**, Katie Rife (B-): The film shows efficient direction and strong turns from young cast members like Jenna Ortega, but its structure buckles under the weight of legacy and feels strained in combining old and new elements. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/a-new-generation-takes-a-stab-at-scream-in-the-first-se-1848340926) - **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (70/100, inferred): It updates the franchise to the age of internet fandom with an entertaining wink at the badness of sequels, keeping the meta formula fresh enough to be fun while recycling the old blueprint in a clever way. The film is about as good as Scream 2, with suspense from guessing the killer amid fan-service mockery. [Read](https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/scream-review-neve-campbell-david-arquette-courteney-cox-1235151125/) - **Little White Lies**, Anton Bitel (4/3/3): The critic views the film as a stylishly directed requel that recycles the franchise's meta tropes but feels tired and unnecessary overall. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/scream) - **Slant Magazine** (2/4): The requel cleverly skewers fandom and toxic online culture but becomes drearily repetitious and tedious, with enjoyably staged murders not enough to overcome the sense of sameness. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/scream-5-review/) - **Vulture** (45/100, inferred): The new Scream understands its meta challenge but becomes lifeless, with wooden new characters and chases that work better than actual scares; it prioritizes being a Scream movie over being scary. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/movie-review-the-new-scream-2022-starring-neve-campbell.html) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (30/100, inferred): The film overindulges in self-referential cleverness that undermines the scare factor and wears thin; legacy cast members like Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette provide some pleasure in their returns. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/scream-film-review-1235073697/) - **The New York Times**, Jeannette Catsoulis (30/100, inferred): Throttled by corrosive self-awareness, the film is a wearyingly repetitive and fright-free retread enamored of its own mythology rather than seeding new ideas. It fails to move forward while looking backward, with strong performances from Melissa Barrera unable to overcome the smugness. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/movies/scream-review.html) - **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★★☆☆☆): The critic finds the guess-the-killer game mildly diverting but the film crushingly over-familiar, fright-free and struggling to integrate legacy characters with the new cast. They criticise its bashing of elevated horror films like Hereditary and The Witch as needlessly intellectual. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/scream-review-guess-the-killer-game-is-all-this-franchise-has-to-offer-bb8zwbgw0) - **Collider**, Vinnie Mancuso (A-): The critic finds the film a sharp, fun meta-sequel that excels in its set pieces and self-aware commentary on legacy horror, but the mystery aspect tips its hand too early. They single out the directing duo's handling of the kills and visuals for praise. [Read](https://collider.com/scream-5-review/) - **NME**, James McMahon (90/100, inferred): This is possibly the best entry in the series, a funny and emotional rollercoaster that cleverly skewers Hollywood's requel trend and toxic fandom while delivering surprising twists and strong performances from the legacy cast and newcomers like Melissa Barrera. It recaptures the franchise's fun spirit without sagging. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/scream-review-horror-reboot-courteney-cox-3136061) - **The Wrap** (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the film as a very fine entry that maintains the series' balance of horror, humor, and meta-commentary while updating it for the requel era. They highlight the dynamic new cast, shocking kills, and the directors' skillful handling of tone. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/scream-film-review-5-2022-sequel/) - **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (80/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a smart reboot of the horror franchise with more laughs than scares. They single out its witty self-aware meta-commentary on the genre and the seamless blending of legacy and new cast members. [Read](https://deadline.com/video/scream-review-neve-campbell-courteney-cox-david-arquette-jenna-ortega/) - **Digital Spy**, Ian Sandwell (80/100, inferred): The requel recaptures the original's blend of horror and humour with clever meta-commentary on legacy sequels and toxic fandom, plus brutal set pieces and strong turns from both returning and new cast members. David Arquette particularly shines in an expanded role. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a38693088/scream-review-2022/) - **Polygon**, Jesse Hassenger (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the film for reviving the franchise's self-referential strengths and delivering solid set pieces with good gore, comparing its meta approach favorably to other legacy sequels while noting some crowded plotting. They highlight the new directors maintaining propulsion and visual flair. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/22882012/scream-review-2022-meta-horror/) - **/Film**, Chris Evangelista (75/100, inferred): The critic calls it a nifty, quick-witted slasher pic that is the funniest entry in the series and delivers brutal kills. They note it maintains a steady pace but feels too familiar and derivative overall. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/731358/scream-review-a-very-funny-very-bloody-sequel/) - **Consequence**, Clint Worthington (B-): The review sees it as a fine but uninnovative requel that over-relies on meta-commentary without enough fresh scares or structure. Praises Arquette's Dewey for adding vulnerability. [Read](https://consequence.net/2022/01/scream-5-review/) - **Den of Geek**, Don Kaye (2.5/5): The film sticks too closely to the franchise formula with excessive jump scares and feels more like rote fan service than sharp subversion. David Arquette stands out with a poignant performance amid the mixed results. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/scream-spoiler-free-review-not-our-favorite-scary-movie/) ## Details - **Director:** Tyler Gillett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin - **Director:** Tyler Gillett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin - **Writer:** James Vanderbilt, Guy Busick - **Cinematography:** Brett Jutkiewicz - **Editor:** Michel Aller - **Music:** Brian Tyler, Boys Noize - **Production design:** Chad Keith - **Costume design:** Emily Gunshor - **Producer:** James Vanderbilt, William Sherak, Paul Neinstein - **Cast:** Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter; Jenna Ortega as Tara Carpenter; Mason Gooding as Chad Meeks-Martin; Jasmin Savoy Brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin; Jack Quaid as Richie Kirsch; Mikey Madison as Amber Freeman; Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers; David Arquette as Dewey Riley - **Runtime:** 1h 54m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 14 January 2022 - **Genres:** Horror, Mystery - **Budget:** $24 million - **Box office:** $139 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRwLyKIBNU8 ## Where to watch in the US - Netflix: streaming, leaving 2026-10-08 - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Apple TV: add-on, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $5.99, uhd - Apple TV: rent $5.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $14.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, uhd *Checked 2026-09-19.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, ID, IE, IN, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PT, RS, SE, SG, TH, TR, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Scream* (1996), Fi1m 86: Craven’s original, where the rules were new and the jokes came from fear. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/scream.md) - *Tenebrae* (1982): Argento’s giallo about a writer stalked by a reader; the same mirror, better lit. - *Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon* (2006): A mockumentary follows a slasher preparing his debut; funnier than it has any right to be. - *Ready or Not* (2019): Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett’s earlier film: a wedding night, a hide-and-seek game, plenty of blood. - *Halloween* (2018), Fi1m 88: The other legacy sequel, quieter about its own machinery and stronger for it. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/halloween.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/scream-2022