Scream 7 Ending Explained: Does Sidney Prescott Die?

This article contains massive spoilers for "Scream 7." If you wanna be surprised, Sidney, then look away!

Let's get this out of the way: no, Sidney Prescott does not die in "Scream 7." As a matter of fact, part of the film's meta-commentary seems to imply that a "Scream" without Sidney (as portrayed by Neve Campbell) isn't truly "Scream" at all. While it's certainly true that Campbell and Sidney are integral elements within the franchise, this sentiment feels a bit too belittling of the prior two entries in the series, which primarily featured a new set of protagonists dubbed the "Core Four." Because of the firing of Melissa Barrera and the subsequent exit of Jenna Ortega, only two of those characters show up here. There aren't quite enough legacy protagonists to take their place, either, as just Sidney and Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) remain. As such, Sidney simply cannot die.

If that's true, can "Scream" itself die, and should it? That's the meta question co-writer/director Kevin Williamson attempts to explore with "Scream 7," whose Ghostface killers are revealed to be mental institution employee Marco (Ethan Embry) and Sidney's neighbor, abuse survivor (and former mental patient) Jessica (Anna Camp). Williamson is continuing the thematic thread of insane, murderous fans of the "Stab" movies established by writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick (the latter having a co-writing credit on this film) and directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett during the last two installments. This time, the Ghostfaces are fans of Sidney herself and aren't loving what she's been up to. With their defeat and Sidney's survival, things seem to be back to a harmonious status quo. Yet what lies ahead for Sidney and "Scream" is a trickier, thornier, more complex question.

Aside from an opening sequence in which a Ghostface burns down the old home of Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) in Woodsboro, California, "Scream 7" largely takes place in Sidney's new home of Pine Grove, Indiana. She's been residing there with her chief of police husband, Mark (Joel McHale), and their teenage daughter, Tatum (Isabel May). An initial attack from one Ghostface results in the murder of a couple of Tatum's friends, including Hannah (Mckenna Grace), before Gale, Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown), and Chad (Mason Gooding) dispatch the killer with their car. This Ghostface is revealed to be Karl Gibbs (Kraig Drake), an escaped mental patient from a nearby institution. With two Ghostface killers still on the loose, the suspects are whittled down. Mark is attacked and incapacitated, Tatum's friends Chloe (Celeste O'Connor), Lucas (Asa Germann) — who is Jessica's son — and Ben (Sam Rechner) are killed, and Sidney is tortured with AI recreations of past Ghostface killers, including Stu.

Finally, Jessica and Marco are unmasked, and their evil plan is revealed. This cycle of Ghostface murder was begun by Jessica, who read Sidney's book "Out of Darkness" (from "Scream 4"), which inspired her to murder her abusive husband. Believing that Sidney should always be killing the bad guys, Jessica was so traumatized to learn that she had subsequently vanished and was not even involved in the Ghostface murders in NYC from 2023 that she tracked Sidney down, befriended Marco (a former information technologist) at the local institution, and began her campaign to get rid of Sid and turn Tatum into a "Sidney 2.0." Instead of this, Sidney and Tatum join forces to end Marco and Jessica forever. Mark is taken off to recover at a hospital, Sidney and Gale reaffirm their friendship, Sidney and Tatum bond, and Chad and Mindy are allowed by Gale to report the story.

Where the first four "Scream" movies, directed by Wes Craven, doubled as meta treatises on the influence and current state of the horror film (specifically slasher movies), "Scream" 2022 and "Scream VI" explored the effects of toxic fandom on the next generation of survivors of the Woodsboro murders, as well as on culture in general. "Scream 7" continues this theme in a more specific, roundabout way, as Jessica (and Marco, to a lesser extent) seeks to punish Sidney for attempting to shut away and move beyond her past. The meta connotation to this is Neve Campbell's much-publicized absence from "Scream VI" due to a contract dispute, with the film implying that Campbell did Sidney and "Scream" fans a disservice by refusing to participate. The movie even goes so far as to have Campbell as Sidney apologize to Gale at the end for not being in New York when she/the fans/the series needed her. Essentially, Kevin Williamson is equating Sidney and Campbell with "Scream" in a similar fashion that the "Halloween" films treat Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode: a heroine that the series can't do without.

Yet "Halloween" has certainly proven itself to be viable without Laurie or Curtis' involvement, and the successful "Scream VI" seemed to indicate the same. There's no question that Sidney and Campbell have been a vital component of "Scream" thus far, but do they need to be part of every installment, especially if the powers that be behind the franchise insist on it continuing indefinitely? The last two installments alone show that there are a plethora of young actors and new characters who could carry on in Sidney's stead, up to and including Isabel May's Tatum.

So, setting aside Campbell's clear devotion to the series and her character, this sentiment leaves Sidney and "Scream" in an awkward place. This is exacerbated by the fact that the franchise has attempted to leave Sidney at peace several times before, most notably at the conclusion of "Scream 3." Shouldn't Sidney get to move on and live a happy, normal life? "Scream 7" appears to imply that perhaps she shouldn't. Yet it also raises up Tatum as her mother's successor, someone who can carry forward her mom's survivor strength and determined legacy. It'd be natural for her to be positioned as the next Sidney, only she's not. 

This could be Williamson worried that he's mixing his messages: becoming the next Sidney was something which Scream 4's killer desperately wanted, and that was a desire which Williamson and Wes Craven revealed to be morally bankrupt, at least for that character in that fashion. Perhaps Williamson truly does see "Scream" as Sidney's story above all else, and while that's commendable, it's not all that realistic for a 30-year-old franchise, either.

All of this would be less of an issue if several natural successors to the series weren't waiting in the wings. Of course, the resolution to the story of Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) is still up in the air, thanks to the behind-the-scenes issues. Williamson generously never retcons or awkwardly aborts their story, so it could still be addressed in a future sequel should the right thing be done. Meanwhile, Tatum is clearly capable of carrying on her mother's legacy. There's no reason why a story about Tatum and Sam couldn't be the next step in the series, and perhaps it should.

This question lies at the heart of "Scream 7," which seems to answer it with a non-committal "maybe." For all the adoration it gives Sidney and Campbell by putting them on a pedestal, it also seeks to reject clinging to nostalgia, the latter being the main theme of the prior two installments. To this point, the film's cameo parade of prior Ghostface killers and victims, delivered by Marco's AI necromancy, appears to refute the idea that our heroes and villains of days gone by should never be allowed to rest. So what about Sidney? "Scream 7" could be seen as a definitive, we-mean-it, for-real-this-time fond farewell to the character. Yet it could also be interpreted as a "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," too.

Looking at the rest of the series to predict which direction it'll take next isn't much help. In my ending explained piece for "Scream VI," I observed how that film seemed to deliberately mirror "Scream 2" as 2022's "Scream" paralleled "Scream" 1996. By design or by accident (probably a bit of both), "Scream 7" is the new "Scream 3," a de facto final chapter that features underwhelming revelations as part of a thematically imbalanced film. As we know, that movie turned out to be hardly the end of the series, so is a potential "Scream 8" going to be a cumulative work like "Scream 4" became? 

Is Sidney finally free of Ghostface's menace, or is she to be a recurring guest star, or does the series intend Campbell to do battle with slashers until her passing? Only time will tell. For now, a word of warning from Sidney herself to those in charge of "Scream" who may squeeze all the life out of it if they're not careful: don't f*** with the original.