Scream
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: January 14, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 49 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
14
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
93
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiJan 12, 2022
This new Scream is a killer. Smartly scary and scary smart, consistent with the history of this series but unafraid to piss off fans if it’s for the good of the story. This satire of requels may very well be the first requel done right. It’s a scream, baby. Read full review
90
IGNAmelia EmberwingJan 12, 2022
The latest addition to the Scream franchise expertly blends reverence for the source material while creating something that feels almost completely new. All of the performances are pitch-perfect as the new generation of Woodsboro teens step into their futures, the kills are gnarly, and no version of toxic fandom is left unmocked. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 12, 2022
Thanks to the razor-sharp screenplay by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick and the stylish and Wes Craven-influenced direction by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and the ease with which Campbell, Cox and Arquette return to their roles, the new “Scream” stabs and jabs at our memories of the original and creates some bloody fresh twists of its own. Read full review
80
We Got This CoveredAshley MarieJan 18, 2022
Back from the dead, the new chapter of the Scream series brings us back to the story we initially fell in love with, while creating a dynamic where Ghostface can strike again to continue his bloody carnage. Read full review
80
Time OutOlly RichardsJan 12, 2022
Inventive, incisive and full of affection for the originals, this is easily the most fun the series has been since Scream 2. Read full review
80
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyJan 12, 2022
It’s a little metatextual analysis served up with a generous side of guts and gore, stabbing its cake and eating it with gleeful abandon. Read full review
80
Total FilmJamie GrahamJan 12, 2022
The stalk ‘n’ slash sequences, though decent, can’t match Craven’s mastery of mood and mechanics, but the new guys understand that Scream movies are sick as well as slick. Read full review
80
EmpireBen TravisJan 12, 2022
For the most part, this is a ‘re-quel’ as fast, funny and ferocious as a Scream movie should be. In an era of elevated horror, it’s a gloriously gory basement party. Read full review
79
Paste MagazineLex BriscusoJan 12, 2022
This is the best installment since the original, mainly because the film takes risks and bends conventions already set forth by the films that came before it. Scream was built on rules, but rules are always best when broken. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleJenny NulfJan 13, 2022
The fifth Scream is an ultimate reflection of the beloved first film, and perhaps its only misstep is that the directing duo didn’t relish in their finale, soaking in some of the beautiful homages they visually set up. Even so, Scream is a blast, a solid setup for more to come. Read full review
75
ObserverSiddhant AdlakhaJan 14, 2022
It’s fun, not in a way a computer or a boardroom might interpret fun—pixels taking the shape of something familiar, regurgitated across the screen—but rather, in an unabashed way, where it winks at the audience without apologizing for its gimmick, without being insincere or self-deprecating, and without sacrificing what makes popcorn horror movies such a reliable collective ritual. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoJan 14, 2022
Luckily, it smartly balances references to the original movies in a way that (mostly) avoids the self-aware smugness that has killed many a “re-quel,” delivering a product that feels consistent with the first four movies but distinct enough to have its own voice. Read full review
75
CNNBrian LowryJan 12, 2022
Always meta in its nods to the genre's quirks, the latest "Scream" is so self-referential as to risk swallowing its own tail. Yet this quarter-century-later "requel" (a term specifically explained in the movie) turns out to be a great deal of fun, cleverly wedding familiar faces with new stars in what isn't exactly a remake or reboot but rather plays like a refresh. Read full review
75
The PlaylistMarya E. GatesJan 12, 2022
On top of being a return to form in terms of gnarly kills – so many neck stabs! – Scream uses its meta wit to craft both a rewarding experience for fans of the franchise, while also critiquing the very nature of fandom. And while it doesn’t quite live up to the impact of the first, it’s a strong film in its own right. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleZaki HasanJan 12, 2022
In addition to being the best of the sequels (with all the jumps, gore and quips we’ve come to expect), the new Scream is very much a movie for this moment, tapping into the vogue for legacy revisitations, and its own privileged status as an elder statesman on the horror scene, to show how the familiar can feel both comfortable and terrifying at the same time. Read full review
70
The AtlanticDavid SimsJan 14, 2022
As a jolting piece of entertainment, Scream absolutely succeeds. It can’t reach the terrifying heights of Craven’s original, but none of the sequels could; each one always leaned a little more on meta-humor as the series went along. Read full review
70
PolygonJesse HassengerJan 13, 2022
Campbell, Cox, and Arquette all have chances to shine, and Campbell’s rueful confidence even approaches something vaguely touching. But this is a crowded movie where the body count sometimes inspires relief rather than dread: Finally, some of these extra characters are being cleared out! Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshJan 13, 2022
The overall concept, and its execution in the writing, is classic “Scream.” If there are quibbles to be had, it’s that the new film’s attention feels divided between the old and the new, with not enough time or space to fully develop everyone’s personal motivations. Read full review
70
Rolling StoneDavid FearJan 12, 2022
Yet you have to applaud how boldly this fifth entry tries to flip the bird to the entire rinse-repeat-regurgitate idea of trapping film series in amber, while also delivering you the thrill of the familiar and those dopamine bumps that come with the pang of recognition. Read full review
70
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiJan 12, 2022
It brings in new characters who stand apart and maintains the connection to the other films, all while critiquing these very aspects in the same breath. The horror commentary remains top tier, with the fifth installment proving the Scream franchise has still got it. Read full review
70
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaJan 12, 2022
It's a nifty, quick-witted slasher pic, and at this point in this particular franchise, that's more than enough. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJan 12, 2022
Scream is a confident movie that begs you to compare it to the other sequels in the slasher franchise, even daring you to mention it in the same breath as the original. Good. It should. Because it’s even better than the original “Scream,” which came out in 1996. Until the end. Read full review
70
VarietyOwen GleibermanJan 12, 2022
The new Scream is about as good as “Scream 2” was — it keeps the thrill of the original “Scream” bouncing in the air like a blood-drenched balloon — but the film is basically a set of variations on a very old sleight-of-hand fear blueprint. Except that it’s now old enough to seem new again. Read full review
67
Original-CinThom ErnstFeb 3, 2022
Where a lot of films, particularly in this genre, fall apart in the third act, Scream 2022 holds out for a satisfying payoff. But Scream 2022 spends more time winking to the audience than building tension. And for a horror film, tension is a trope too significant to be overlooked. Even if it is just one more requel to add to the list. Read full review
67
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonJan 13, 2022
The series moves forward with the succinctly-titled Scream, the first without Wes (this new film is dedicated to his passing), and one that goes full-tilt into horror movie metacommentary, perhaps to its detriment. Read full review
67
IndieWireJude DryJan 12, 2022
Scream makes so many references to its predecessors, along with plenty of other horror flicks both lowbrow and high, it’s impossible to forget you’re watching a fictional film. It may be exciting to let the audience in on the joke, but it’s hard to get lost in this world. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyJoshua RothkopfJan 12, 2022
While the new movie is laced with Easter eggs and homages to the late master, it doesn't build its sequences with the same meat-and-potatoes solidity as Craven did. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett don't have those chops yet. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeJan 12, 2022
The script, from veteran screenwriter James Vanderbilt and Castle Rock scribe Guy Busick, leans in to the franchise’s fidgety intelligence, swerving and ducking and winking at the camera like the “meta whodunit slasher” it proudly proclaims itself to be. Read full review
63
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJan 13, 2022
The meta irony is that even as Scream 2022 is telling certain fans to back off and calm down, it’s also wooing a new generation. Luckily the film is clever enough to earn such … well, let’s call it appreciation, rather than allegiance. It’s just a movie, after all. Read full review
63
USA TodayBrian TruittJan 12, 2022
Clearly far from the worst the franchise has offered (sorry, “Scream 3”) and not quite to the level of the late Wes Craven's innovative 1996 original, Ghostface’s latest slice-and-dice through Woodsboro checks all the appropriate boxes though lacks some of the quirky fun that marked previous entries. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeJan 16, 2022
While this is the smartest, funniest and stabbiest film since the 1996 original, it does feel as though Scream has come full circle, an ouroboros serpent of a franchise that is destined to endlessly devour itself until those testy toxic fans finally lose patience. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesTara BradyJan 14, 2022
The script is smartly self-fulfilling. Devil’s Due co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett deliver jump-scares with mechanical precision. The thrill, however, is gone. Read full review
60
ABC NewsPeter TraversJan 14, 2022
Way fiercer and funnier than a fourth sequel has any right to be. Here's ‘Scream’ for a new generation – so self-aware that it mocks itself for relying on borrowed inspiration (the 1996 Wes Craven original) while squeezing the golden goose for one last payoff. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonJan 12, 2022
This clever, heavily meta picture has fun both mocking its own existence and trying to find enough twists to justify itself. The result is a film which is superficially appealing even if it is ultimately undone by the contortions necessary to keep the irreverent sleight-of-hand going. Read full review
60
Little White LiesAnton BitelJan 12, 2022
This is certainly the most stylishly directed of all the sequels. But still, its ironic self-consciousness about how tired its material has become does not ultimately make it any less tired. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJan 12, 2022
Perhaps there is less zap in Scream nowadays and archly invoking the newer generation of indie horror - Jordan Peele is mentioned, with absolute respect - only serves in the long run to remind you how elderly Scream is. But it’s still capable of delivering some piercing high-pitched decibels. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJan 18, 2022
If Scream is intended to re-start the franchise, things are off to a rocky start. This is what happens when Hollywood refuses to give up on a series that has run its course. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 16, 2022
This new Scream is so determined to be a Scream movie that it forgets the primary, unstated rule established by the original Scream: You can sell anything to us, so long as you make it scary. Read full review
50
Slant MagazinePat BrownJan 15, 2022
It’s at a certain point toward the finale that this Scream becomes almost as drearily repetitious as the reboot culture that it skewers. Read full review
50
The Film StageMatt CipollaJan 13, 2022
Scream is not a bad movie. It is, however, a case of mediocrity being the worst sin. For a franchise all about coping with a media landscape that begets disillusionment to produce something just like this, it especially hurts. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJan 13, 2022
I wish this movie offered a little less running commentary and a little more running — anything, really, to get itself off the treadmill of self-critique and self-congratulation and actually going somewhere new. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJan 12, 2022
Sure, there’s some fun in all that meta-playfulness. But there’s also a facetiousness that wears thin and intrudes on the killing spree, making me often wish I was watching any one of the superior movies being referenced. Read full review
50
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiJan 12, 2022
Should a serial killer blood-bath be so comfy and nostalgic for an audience? Not if it wants to maintain our interest. Over two hours, Cinco de Scream-o lumbers along with routine kills and few surprises even when it makes lame attempts at shocking us. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyJan 12, 2022
The killings themselves are run-of-the-mill, jump-scare assaults staged with minimal invention or flair, which only makes the film’s box of tricks look emptier: there are even quips about how we’ve seen it all before, at which I found myself duly nodding. It gets almost too meta to function. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 12, 2022
And then that ending shows up, and all the talking, over-the-topping and slow-walked butchery washes away whatever good will, or grudging acceptance this “requel” almost achieves. Read full review
38
The Associated PressJake CoyleJan 12, 2022
It’s a basic format that’s been trotted out for plenty of reboots before. But aside from its frequent stabs at self-referential comedy, “Scream” proceeds with a dull repetitiveness. Read full review
35
Vanity FairRichard LawsonJan 12, 2022
The film looks pallid and cheap, with pretty much zero nod to the style and panache of Wes Craven’s original. The jokes are heavily telegraphed as Clever Jokes, the references to cinema culture and film structure landing as obligation rather than organic bursts of analytical wit. Read full review
30
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJan 13, 2022
Throttled by a corrosive self-awareness, the latest Scream is a slasher movie with resting smug face, so enamored of its own mythology that its characters speak of little else. Read full review
25
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJan 13, 2022
There is such a thing as toxic fandom, to borrow the term used by one of this movie’s young protagonists, and “Scream,” which is filled with endless conversation about the difference between a sequel and a “requel” and more rules than a penitentiary, suffers from it, fatally. Read full review
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