“Scream” is an ongoing thriller franchise, which started when the first movie was released in late 1996. The franchise revolves around an antagonist called “Ghostface,” who wears a mask and a cloak as a disguise, and has been made into a total of six movies so far. The sixth and most recent one came out on March 10, 2023. “Scream 6” piggybacks off of “Scream 5,” utilizing the same characters. Both focus on sisters Tara and Sam Carpenter. However, this one is different because it takes place in New York City instead of Woodsboro, which is where the previous installment was set.

“Scream 6” starts with a wild twist from all the other movies, which is that the movie’s “Ghostface” is revealed within the first ten minutes and is a college student named Jason Carvey. He leads his film class teacher into an alley and stabs her to death. Then, an even bigger twist happens when he goes back to his apartment and he (and his already dead roommate) gets killed by the real Ghostface. The rest of the movie goes how every “Scream” movie typically goes. The group tries to figure out who’s behind the Ghostface mask and what exactly their motive is.

The real Ghostfaces (there ended up being three) end up being Ethan, Quinn, and Detective Wayne (who were all secretly related). This was extremely confusing to find out because in an earlier scene, Quinn had “died,” but it’s clear that they just staged her death so she would be off the suspect list. Ethan was also a friend of Tara and Sam. Not only were the three Ghostfaces related, but they’re also related to one of the  “Scream 5” Ghostfaces, Richie, and they want revenge on Sam for killing him.

I found many flaws in this movie pertaining to its confusing plot and the overall decisions the characters make. In one scene, Sam is fighting one of the Ghostfaces and she has a gun. But for some unknown reason, she chooses not to shoot them and she just runs away. In another, Sam and Tara were being chased through the streets by Ghostface, and they ran into a convenience store. Ghostface follows them and proceeds to kill two people in the store, but not before one of them calls 911. The police come and take Sam and Tara to the police station so they can give their account of the situation. At this point it’s clear that Ghostface is officially after them and out to kill them both, but instead of telling the police this and staying at the station where they’re safe, the girls decide that they need to deal with the situation on their own.

Another thing that annoyed me about the movie is how the characters were so smart but at the same time so stupid. This seems to be a recurring theme in the franchise. An example of this in “Scream 6” is when Mindy, one of Tara’s friends, goes on a rant about how you can’t trust anybody in the group because anyone could be Ghostface. She even goes as far as accusing Ethan, one of the friends, of being Ghostface (which ended up being correct). But then in another scene, she’s on a subway and someone in a Ghostface mask is staring at her, yet she didn’t ask anyone for help or really do anything.

One more flaw I found in the movie is characters surviving the most gruesome things. Chad, a member of the group, got stabbed about 20 times but somehow lived. Ethan got stabbed through the throat and “died” but five minutes later pops back up. Quinn gets a brick chucked at her face and gets several teeth knocked out but is up and fine in the next shot. The movie also had a lot of scenes where characters would “die,” but it would be revealed a couple scenes later that they actually survived.

The movie was a huge waste of time and money. There have been so many movies in this franchise already, and I honestly think they just need to give it a rest. The movies are incredibly repetitive at this point, and the only thing that really changes are the deaths and the characters. Unsurprisingly, a “Scream 7” has already been confirmed. Although the latest installment was entertaining, all the flaws made it laughable and almost impossible to thoroughly enjoy.