Scream 5. Welcome back, Sidney.

"Do you like scary movies?"

Most of those who were born in the 80s and 90s will answer without blinking an eye: "I do! And my favorite is Scream". And the directors of the new part Tyler Gillette, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, and producer Chad Villella, known as the Radio Silence association will agree with you. Together they worked on the anthology Southbound and the perky horror Ready or not.

There was no doubt, talented directors could not believe that they inherited a great brainchild, and insisted that they took up cinema only thanks to Wes Craven. Confessions of such strength are always infectious: gradually, one by one, Woodsboro veterans signed up to participate in the project. First, ex-spouses David Arquette and Courteney Cox, and then Neve Campbell - the main last girl of the 90s. But the composition of the reunion was not limited to the iconic trio: Deputy Sheriff Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton) from part 4 and Randy's sister Martha (Heather Matarazzo) from part 3 appeared on the screen. If all these names mean nothing to you, then the film will be perceived as quite difficult: the return implies a long acquaintance.

Everyone gathered for a non-joyful occasion like Dewey and Gale's wedding anniversary or Sidney's birthday (or survival, as you like). The masked maniac has shown up again, and again terrorizes the youth of Woodsboro: sister, brothers, great-nephews, children, brother-in-law, other relatives of the characters of the original movie rush like a gallery of faces in front of the viewer. There is no need to try to remember all of them. Perhaps, only Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), who claims to be the last girl 5.0. Each of the recruits will become a suspect, and therefore there is no point in becoming attached to them: most likely, they will kill or be killed.

Scream is beautifully written, masterfully directed, and played by a cast of rookies who jumped into the joyous chaos of the franchise, giving it the last even in their wildest moments. This movie pays tribute to the teen slasher legend, but also with a fiercely independent spirit and a sense that the only way to truly honor previous parts is to forge a new path.

This is about the nature of horror fandom, the constant nit-picking of storytelling that the YouTube era has brought us, the dangers of sequel cycles, and the paradoxical drive to give fans what they want while spoiling their expectations at the same time. In any case, this is a movie about all of that, and nothing seems superfluous. It's in the true spirit of the original, filled with meaning, joy, and suspense, so it fits perfectly into one of today's greatest horror franchises.

Scream 2022 focuses on, at least narratively, the "requel" phenomenon, a film that's not quite a reboot or quite a sequel, but a combination of the two specifically crafted to attract both new and old fans. So, as in previous films, this narrative preoccupation becomes not just a structural plot concern, but the next phase of the Scream franchise's self-talk.

We see new characters echo old ones, old locations are used in new ways, and even the whole scene is full of increasingly sophisticated jump scare staging, just to get the audience even more into it. All of this, as always in Scream, is about the idea of ​​fulfilling the promise made at the beginning of the film, while at the same time saying something about the particular formula of that particular film. It's not an easy line, but passing it, the movie reaches its peak, and that's where the real magic happens.

However, Radio Silence, despite sometimes excessive reverence for the material (and tributes to Craven), still perfectly captured zeitgeist and fanaticism as the main driving force of everything that happens. Gale Weathers, at the end of the original trilogy, says that "Popular culture is the politics of the 21st Century". Over the past 20 years, it has become a religion, family values, and moral guidelines for several generations at once. Of course, the fans want a return to the beloved home of death, of course, the fans will be unhappy with the attack on the holy altar of Woodsboro. It was already in Scream: Sidney can die, the killer is someone you know, never say: "I'll be right back". The case closed. Slashers are dead, long live slashers!