The Scream franchise’s longstanding obsession with final girl Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) needs to evolve if the series is to survive beyond Scream 2022. Since its inception, the Scream franchise has been defined by its subversions and deconstructions of classic slasher tropes. Characters have sex and still survive, comic relief characters turn out to be unexpectedly resourceful—or in some cases, lethal—and most of the traditional archetypes expected to make it out alive are dead and buried before the credits roll.
However, since the original self-referential slasher Scream was released in 1996, there is one slasher trope that the franchise has never cast aside. Sidney Prescott, Campbell’s legendary horror character, has not only survived every Scream outing but she has also been at the center of each movie’s mystery. However, having a character guaranteed to survive each movie’s action inherently defangs the impact of the Scream movies as slashers, meaning that the franchise must move on from this obsession to keep proceedings fresh and frightening.
Since the series began, the Scream franchise has focused on Sidney Prescott. Having a consistent emotional core has helped the series develop a deeper lead character than many of its slasher competitors, but bringing back the same heroine for each movie also ensues that the Scream movies inhibit their effectiveness as a horror franchise. The fourth film in the franchise, director Wes Craven’s final movie Scream 4, even addressed this by having the killer berate Sidney for surviving unimaginable amounts of trauma and still somehow always bouncing back. Judging by its trailer, Scream’s 2022 reboot appears to be passing the torch on to the next generation, which could be a perfect opportunity for the series to make a new lead character the focal point of the franchise going forward.
The original Scream was a disarmingly effective slasher because Kevin Williamson’s sharp, self-aware script made viewers care about characters who were never going to make it out alive. Many of the movie’s most likable characters, such as Rose McGowan’s acerbic Tatum and Drew Barrymore’s Casey, were brutally killed off by a teen horror that was unafraid of making fans care about the cast before their grim demises. Scream 2 continued this trend as, much like A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors infamously killed the original movie’s beloved final girl Nancy, the 1998 Scream sequel killed fan-favorite Randy to establish that anyone could die. Sidney’s likable boyfriend and roommate were also on the chopping block, and their deaths were brutal enough that most fans didn’t notice Dewey, Gale, and Sidney—all the first movie’s survivors—made it out alright.
However, by Scream 3 and Scream 4, Sidney’s central role in the franchise was becoming more apparent, and, by extension, the movies were now reticent about killing off not only the final girl but any returning characters from earlier in the series. This resulted in Scream 3 being an un-scary, critically dismissed effort, while Scream 4 garnered criticism for killing off characters that viewers wanted more of (like Hayden Panettiere’s resourceful horror buff Kirby) while retaining everyone from the original movie.
Much like 2018’s successful Halloween reboot moved away from less-liked elements of that franchise’s slasher sequels, 2022’s Scream reboot could use its young cast as a springboard to pull focus away from the movie’s returning stars. Scream 2022 does not necessarily need to kill Sidney (and Dewey and Gale) to prove its horror credentials, but the movie must at least establish a new, compelling protagonist for the franchise instead of relying entirely on the appeal of the original movie’s heroine.
Key Release Dates
Scream (2022)
Release Date:2022-01-14
