SCREAM (2022)
*CUT TO THE CHASE*NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy
The film opens in Woodsboro. Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) is home alone when her phone rings, with a voice (Roger L. Jackson) claiming to be someone named Charlie calling for Tara’s mother. He keeps her on the line for a moment while she is texting her friend Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison). The voice starts asking Tara horror movie questions. She says she prefers newer “elevated horror” films like “The Babadook”, “Hereditary”, and “The Witch”, but the voice asks her about the “Stab” movies, particularly the original film. The voice becomes threatening and reveals that they cloned Amber’s phone and are sitting outside her bedroom right now, and they tell Tara that they will kill Amber if she doesn’t answer the questions correctly. Tara gets the last question wrong, and the killer known as Ghostface begins trying to break into her house. She opens the door and he slashes her stomach. Tara tries calling the police while Ghostface keeps trying to get in and taunt her over the phone. The killer makes his way inside and stabs Tara through the hand and twice in the side while also breaking her foot. The police arrive soon, so Ghostface flees and leaves Tara alive but seriously injured.
In Modesto, Tara’s older sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) is working with her boyfriend Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid), when she receives a phone call from Tara’s friend Wes Hicks (Dylan Minnette) to inform her that Tara has been attacked. Sam and Richie drive back to Woodsboro while discussing the “Stab” movies and what connection they have to the attack.
At Woodsboro High, Tara’s friends – Amber, Wes, Liv McKenzie (Sonia Ammar), and siblings Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) – are gathered as they talk about Tara’s attack and Sam returning home. Nearby, a creepy guy named Vince Schneider (Kyle Gallner) that Liv used to hook up with stands by trying to get her back, even though she is now with Chad. It also turns out that Wes is the son of Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton), who has gone from deputy to sheriff of Woodsboro. Wes then gets a text from Tara after she wakes up, and the friends all go to visit her.
Sam and Richie arrive at the hospital where they meet Tara’s friends in her room. Tara is happy to see Sam, since it has been five years since she fled from Woodsboro. Tara asks everyone but Sam to leave the room, though Richie stays outside for Sam’s sake.
The friends gather at a pool hall where they talk about Sam and how she ditched the family after her and Tara’s father walked out on the family. Vince is there trying to make moves on Liv again, and when Chad goes to confront him, Vince pulls out a knife until the bartender orders him to get out. After taking a piss, Vince finds his car being turned on with the headlights on, but finds nobody in the car. He is found by Ghostface, who stabs him in the neck and leaves him to bleed to death.
Sam and Richie are still at the hospital with Tara. Sam goes to the bathroom to take her medication, where it turns out that she hallucinates seeing the ghost of original Woodsboro killer Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). He tells her that she knows why these attacks are happening and that she has something to do with it. Sam then receives a taunting call from Ghostface, who soon attacks her until she runs to find an officer and tells him about the attack.
Judy comes to talk to Sam, Tara, Richie, and Amber, with some suspicion thrown on Richie. Judy remembers Sam from how she caused problems for her family and suggests she and Richie leave town in the morning. Sam then asks Richie and Amber to leave so she can talk to Tara. She reveals to her that when she was 13, she was in the attic of their old house when she found a diary that her mom wrote, thinking they were about their dad. That was when Sam found out that she was the illegitimate daughter of Billy Loomis, and when she confronted her mom about it, that was when her dad found out the truth and left the family. Filled with guilt and horror, Sam fled town for fear that she would end up just like Billy. Tara is angry at her for waiting all this time to tell her after abandoning her, and she orders Sam to leave the room. Sam tells Richie that they should go back to Modesto, but he vows to stay with her until they are sure Tara is safe. Sam then says they need to find an expert to help them.
Sam and Richie find the home of former Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette), who lives alone and has separated from Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), watching her now successful morning news show. Dewey doesn’t want to talk to Sam and Richie until Sam says she is Billy’s daughter. Dewey suggests that if the killer was inspired by the first “Stab” movie, then there are certain rules that they need to follow to survive, like don’t trust the love interest. Dewey still refuses to help them and makes them leave. He then calls Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who is now married with kids. She is happy to hear from Dewey again, but he then tells her the killings in Woodsboro are happening again. Although Sidney has learned to arm herself, she refuses to set foot in Woodsboro again.
After some consideration, Dewey fixes himself up and goes back to Woodsboro with Sam and Richie. They go to Chad and Mindy’s home, where it turns out they are the nephew and niece of Randy Meeks, and as such, Mindy is as much of a film buff as her uncle was. The other friends are gathered so that Sam can explain she is Billy’s daughter and the connections that the killings have to the original murders or the first “Stab” movie. Amber says that she learned that Vince was the nephew of Stu Macher, Billy’s accomplice. Mindy suggests that the killer is doing a “re-quel” (reboot AND sequel) of “Stab”, because many die-hard fans of the “Stab” franchise were pissed off by “Stab 8”, which was just called “Stab” again in the vein of recent franchise films like “Halloween”, “Star Wars”, “Jurassic Park”, and “Ghostbusters” that made something new while still keeping a connection to the very first film to satisfy those fans, in this case the “legacy” characters that are connected to the new ones. Wes worries that his mom is next since Judy was part of a “Stab” story. When Mindy suggests that Sam could be the killer, she storms out and goes back to her motel.
Judy later orders food for herself and Wes, and then goes to pick it up. On her way there, she is called by Ghostface, who threatens her with killing Wes. She speeds back home and tries to call Wes, but he is taking a shower. Judy runs to the front of the house and is stabbed repeatedly by Ghostface. Inside the house, Wes hears noises and walks downstairs, but he never notices his mother lying outside in front of the house. Ghostface then attacks Wes and stabs him through the throat, killing him.
Sam and Dewey later come across the crime scene. Gale shows up as well, mourning Judy but also chastising Dewey for telling her about the killings via text. Although their reunion is rocky, he admits to Gale that he was forced to retire from his job after they split up and he began drinking. When Sam notices the deputy from the hospital there at the crime scene, she realizes nobody is at the hospital looking after Tara, so she heads over there and is joined by Dewey.
Back at the hospital, Tara tries to get a nurse or a guard but nobody answers her. The lights are then turned out by Ghostface, and Tara tries to wheel herself outside to get help, where she finds a guard has been murdered and his gun was taken. She goes back into her room to hide and finds someone opening the door. She hits them with a crutch but it’s just Richie having come to check on Tara per Sam’s request. Meanwhile, Sam tries to get in touch with Tara, but Ghostface calls her and taunts her. Ghostface knocks Richie out and goes after Tara when she tries to flee the room. Ghostface tells Sam to choose whether Tara or Richie will die. Sam stalls for time until she and Dewey make it there, and Dewey shoots Ghostface three times. He gets Richie into the elevator with Sam and Tara, but he stays behind to put a bullet in Ghostface’s head. Unfortunately, before he can do so, he is distracted when Gale tries to call him, giving Ghostface an opportunity to rise and attack. The killer gets two knives and stabs Dewey in the gut and back, slicing him upwards and killing him. Ghostface gloats “It’s an honor” before fleeing the scene. Gale later arrives and is devastated to discover Dewey’s body being wheeled out.
Sidney returns to Woodsboro upon hearing of Dewey’s death, and she reunites with Gale. Sam takes Tara out and offers her condolences to the two women, but although Sidney tries to offer help, Sam refuses and says she is going to take Tara and flee from Woodsboro. Sidney tells her that running away never works, but Sam goes through with it anyway. Sidney then tells Gale that she put a tracker in Sam’s car, and they proceed to follow her.
On their way out of town, Tara tells Sam that she needs her inhaler and can’t find it. She says that Amber has a spare one for her, so they go to her house, where they are having a memorial party for Wes. Chad, Mindy, and Liv are also there. Liv wants to hook up with Chad, but he fears that she is the killer, which upsets her and makes her leave. When he goes looking for her, a location-sharing icon pops up, but it is just Ghostface tricking Chad to lure him. The killer gets the drop on Chad and begins stabbing him.
Sam and Richie force the teens to leave the house, except for the main group of friends. Liv comes back and learns from Mindy that Chad went looking for her. Fed up with being accused of being the killer, Liv suggests that Mindy is next since the “expert” character usually gets killed. Mindy continues watching the first “Stab”, specifically the scene where the Randy character is unaware that the killer is behind him while telling the character in the movie he is watching to turn around…and sure enough, Ghostface is right behind Mindy. He stabs her in the neck but is stopped as Sam comes in. After Ghostface flees, Amber comes in with Tara and thinks Sam attacked Mindy. Richie comes in, as well as Liv after she found Chad outside and comes in with his blood on her hands, leading to more accusations. When she says one last time that she is not the killer, Amber reveals that SHE is, and pulls out a gun to blow Liv’s brains out. Everybody runs.
Sidney and Gale reach the house, which they recognize as being Stu’s house where they faced off against him and Billy the first time around. They hear screams from inside the house and get their guns ready. Amber comes out and pretends to be attacked, but they know it’s a trap. Amber shoots Gale in the side and runs back in the house, but although Sidney tells Gale to go to the hospital, she plans to see this end for Dewey’s sake. Sidney enters and shoots every door, thinking Ghostface is hiding behind them. She ends up shooting Richie in the leg, though he was just hiding for safety. Sam finds Tara tied up in the closet, but then thinks for a moment because Richie told her there’s always two killers, and he implied Tara is the other one for trying to lure them back to Woodsboro. Amber then attacks Sidney, and a struggle for the gun ensues. Sam grabs it, but then Richie stabs her in the side, revealing himself as the second killer. He even shows that he took Tara’s inhaler to bring them to the house.
Richie and Amber take Sidney, Gale, and Sam into the kitchen as they prepare to kill them, but not before explaining their motive – they were so dissatisfied with the last “Stab” movie having taken creative liberties that had little to do with the original (like Ghostface having a flamethrower) that they have decided to make their own “re-quel” by bringing back a legacy character (Sam being the daughter of the original killer), along with the original protagonists (Sidney, Dewey, and Gale) to make an ideal “Stab” sequel, while also defending themselves against the “toxic fan” label that people like them have gotten over the years, seeing themselves as just passionate about the franchises they love. They also plan to frame Sam as the villain of their story. When Amber goes to check on Tara, she finds that she is not in the closet anymore. Amber gets whacked with a crutch by Tara while Sam fights Richie. Amber makes it back into the kitchen where Sidney and Gale fight her. Gale fights her the hardest as retribution for Dewey, and Sidney smashes a jar of hand sanitizer on Amber’s head before both ladies shoot her and cause her to fall onto a lit stove, causing Amber to become engulfed in flames. Meanwhile, Richie prepares to kill Sam, but she grabs a concealed knife and stabs him in the face before viciously stabbing him repeatedly before slashing his throat. Sidney and Gale come to warn Sam that the killers always try to come back for one more scare. Amber then runs out screaming trying to kill again before Tara shoots her in the head, finally killing her. Sam takes Sidney’s gun and shoots Richie in the head to make sure he stays dead.
The police and medics arrive, and Chad and Mindy are revealed to still be alive. Sam thanks Sidney and Gale for helping them even when she told them not to. Gale decides that her next book will be about what a hero Dewey was, and that the killers can stay dead without anybody knowing who they were. Sam then goes to the hospital with Tara while news reporters cover the crime scene.
The film is dedicated to Wes Craven.
A new Ghostface killer plagues the town of Woodsboro, beginning with attacking teenager Tara Carpenter in her home. Her older sister Sam returns to Woodsboro with her boyfriend Richie Kirsch to take care of Tara after Sam fled town five years earlier. Sam reveals to Tara that she fled because she found out that she is the illegitimate daughter of Billy Loomis, the original mastermind killer from the first Woodsboro murders that spawned the "Stab" slasher franchise, and Sam worried she would end up like her father. She and Richie seek help from Dewey Riley, who has since been retired from the police force and split up from Gale Weathers.
Ghostface kills a guy named Vince, who was the nephew of Stu Macher, Billy's old accomplice. He also attacks Sam and later kills Sheriff Judy Hicks and her son Wes. After an attack at the hospital, Ghostface murders Dewey, which prompts Sidney Prescott to return to Woodsboro to avenge her friend. Although she tries to help Sam, she instead plans to flee town with Tara and Richie.
The climax happens at a house party taking place in Stu's old home where the climax of the first movie happened, since this is where Tara's friend Amber lives and she needs to get an inhaler from her. Sidney and Gale follow them there after putting a tracker in Sam's car. Siblings Chad and Mindy (nephew and niece of Randy Meeks) are stabbed by the killer, while Chad's girlfriend Liv is shot in the head. The killers are Amber and Richie, as they are two psychotic fans of the "Stab" franchise who were so upset by the last movie that took too many liberties that deviated from the original film, that they decided to make their own story by involving old characters with new ones that have a connection to the older characters. After Tara gets free, she attacks Amber while Sam fights Richie. Sidney and Gale shoot Amber and set her on fire while Sam stabs Richie and slashes his throat. Amber is still alive until Tara shoots her in the head, while Sam shoots Richie in the head to make sure he is dead.
Sam thanks Sidney and Gale for their help before going to the hospital with Tara. Gale then says her next book will be about Dewey and how he was a hero.