Commentary: The Nostalgia Of ‘Scream 7’ Is Purposely Artificial
by Frank Martin
Nostalgia is a huge audience driver these days. Every franchise is trying to cash in by tapping into past stories through new installments. Horror is no different. In fact, the tagline for Scream 7 is “face your past.” With the return of Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) after having been killed in the original film, it’s obvious that the franchise is trying to brew nostalgia by tapping one of its original and most popular killers. However, it’s clear by the end of the film that the nostalgia was entirely artificial, and purposely so.
— Spoilers Follow —
After having made a life for herself with a husband and children, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is trying to put her traumatic past behind her. But that isn’t so simple as killers continue to seek her out. This time, an aged and scarred Stu taunts her through video calls before every murder. Sidney and Gail Weathers (Courteney Cox) investigate the killings to see if Stu was really alive. In the end, the real killer merely used AI to generate the deep fakes of Stu.
The film undoubtedly tries to tap into nostalgia by giving Stu a prominent role. Even other killers from previous Scream films make cameos at the end. However, because AI was used to depict these characters, the nostalgia is completely artificial. It was created by the true killer to invoke feelings within Sidney the same way the filmmakers hope to invoke feelings within the audience. But it was never real. The killers featured in the newest film are brand new to the series with no connection to the past. So, in reality, there was never any true nostalgia affecting the plot in the same way it did for Scream 6. In the end, it was all artificial — even within the story itself.
Scream 7 is now in theaters.