Sidney versus Ghostface… yet again!
If you’re tired of seeing Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) go up against Ghostface, then it’s nothing compared to how Sidney herself feels. She is so over being hunted down by yet another delusional serial killer in costume. However, crazy people just will not leave her alone. As always, Scream 7 plays out in the meta-universe, where Sidney Prescott is a real person.
She’s someone who survived two serial killers to see a movie made about it. As such, she became famous for being a real-life final girl. Again and again.
I mention this because I find it important that viewers still accept this premise. Scream has always been about what we could (or should) learn from watching horror movies. That way, you’ll be ready if and when danger happens in real life. Something Sidney knows better than most… even if she did sit out the New York events of the previous movie.
Something that, yes, does come up in this sequel.
Also, Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) is back, and bringing two familiar faces with her in the form of the twins: Mindy and Chad (Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding). In that sense, we have quite a few people who have survived several Ghostface attacks already. Something that will always come in handy!
The very real impact of true crime
This time, Sidney is back and clearly used to people recognizing, pranking, and even threatening her. Via the Stab movie franchise that exists in the Scream universe, and the books written about both Gale Weathers and Sidney Prescott herself, the ordeal both women survived has become a true crime phenomenon.
The Scream slasher franchise has been dealing with the true-crime fascination (and its related issues) from before the concept became as huge as it is today. Sure, people have been fascinated with serial killers for the longest time, but the way this franchise has utilized that fascination as a plot point was still very much ahead of its time.
In Scream 7, a new Ghostface killer emerges. Not in Woodsboro or The Big Apple, but rather in the quiet town where Sidney Prescott has built a new life. Her daughter, Tatum (Isabel May), named after her best friend in the original movie, is the age Sidney was when she was first attacked.