The knives are out again in Scream 7, and this time the mystery surrounding Ghostface comes with a very meta twist. As fans try to piece together who’s under the mask, one cast member says the speculation only made the experience better. In fact, being predicted as the killer felt like a badge of honor.
Spoilers ahead!
The latest chapter in the long-running horror franchise brings Neve Campbell back into the chaos as Sidney Prescott. Directed by Kevin Williamson, who launched the original 1996 film alongside Wes Craven, the seventh installment finds Sidney living what looks like a calm, small-town life.
She’s far from Woodsboro, married to cop Mark Evans, played by Joel McHale, and raising her teenage daughter Tatum, played by Isabel May.
Of course, peaceful doesn’t last long in a Scream movie.
A new Ghostface begins targeting Sidney, claiming to be Stu Macher, the original killer portrayed by Matthew Lillard. But the film goes further, revealing that AI deepfakes were used to torment Sidney while her daughter’s friends are picked off one by one. It’s a nasty, tech-driven evolution of the franchise’s obsession with media and manipulation.
The real mastermind is Jessica Bowden, Sidney’s next-door neighbor and supposed best friend, played by Anna Camp. Jessica becomes dangerously fixated on Sidney after reading her book Out of Darkness, which she interprets as encouragement to murder her abusive husband.
When Sidney wasn’t in New York during the events of Scream 6, Jessica spirals. Feeling abandoned, she checks herself into a mental health facility, where she teams up with hospital staffer Marco, played by Ethan Embry, and fellow patient Karl, played by Kraig Dane, to orchestrate the latest string of killings.
It was an interesting direction to take the story, but in the end fell flat for a lot of fans. However, I do understand what Williamson was trying to say and do with this creative choice.
Camp previously spoke with Deadline, and when they correctly guessed she’d turn out to be the killer, she didn’t exactly deny it. Instead, she had some fun with the attention.
“A lot of people are saying that,” said Camp. “I can’t obviously say anything, but I will take that kind of as a compliment, because that role is definitely for somebody who has to be able to bring the whole movie home. So, I take that as a compliment.”
Now that Scream 7 is in theaters, we know she wasn’t kidding. Taking on Ghostface isn’t just about wearing the mask. It means carrying the emotional and thematic weight of the film’s final act. It’s the role that flips the story on its head.
The cast is packed with returning favorites and new faces. Alongside Campbell, the film stars Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Scott Foley, Lillard, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mason Gooding, with newcomers McHale, May, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Mark Consuelos, and Embry rounding out the lineup.
With AI deception, legacy characters, and another personal attack on Sidney Prescott, Scream 7 leans into what the franchise does best. It toys with expectations, calls out modern horror tropes, and still delivers a brutal whodunit. And for Anna Camp, being the one fans suspected all along only made the reveal sweeter.
