| Director | Wes Craven |
|---|---|
| Genre | comedy film, comedy horror film, horror film, mystery film, slasher film, teen film |
| Runtime | 111 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $40 million |
| Box office | $97 million |
On the 15th anniversary week of the original Woodsboro murders, high school students Marnie Cooper and Jenny Randall are murdered by Ghostface. Sidney Prescott returns to Woodsboro the following day to promote her self-help book with her publicist, Rebecca Walters. After evidence is found in her rental car, Sidney becomes a prime suspect in the murders and must stay in town until they are solved.
Sidney's teenage cousin, Jill Roberts, who is coping with the infidelity of her ex-boyfriend, Trevor Sheldon, gets a threatening phone call from Ghostface, as does her friend Olivia Morris. Jill and Olivia, alongside their friend Kirby Reed, are questioned about their calls by Dewey Riley, now the county sheriff, while his deputies Judy Hicks, Anthony Perkins, and Ross Hoss assist him in the case. Gale Weathers, Dewey's wife, is struggling with writer's block and decides to investigate the murders against her husband's wishes. That night, as Sidney stays over with Jill and her aunt Kate, Olivia is brutally murdered by Ghostface as Jill and Kirby watch in horror from across the street. Sidney herself is then confronted by Ghostface, and they fight until Ghostface is forced to flee when Perkins and Hoss arrive.
At the hospital, Sidney fires Rebecca after learning of her desire to exploit the murders to increase book sales. Rebecca is subsequently murdered by Ghostface at a parking garage. Gale enlists the help of two high school cinephiles, Charlie Walker and Robbie Mercer. Charlie theorizes that the killer is following the rules of horror remakes, and Gale and Sidney conclude that the killer will likely strike at the "Stab-a-thon", a screening party held in a barn where teenagers gather to binge watch all seven installments of the Stab franchise. Gale sneaks into the party to investigate, but Ghostface attacks her, stabbing her in the shoulder. Hoss and Perkins, who were assigned to guard Jill's house, are also murdered. Sidney discovers through another taunting call from Ghostface that Jill has left for Kirby's, before Ghostface attacks her and Kate, killing the latter.
Jill, Kirby, Charlie, Robbie, and Trevor arrive for an after-party at Kirby's house when Ghostface strikes, killing a drunken Robbie. Sidney arrives to leave with Jill, but they are both chased by Ghostface. As Sidney calls Dewey and tries to find Jill, Kirby frees Charlie, who was bound and gagged, but he immediately stabs her, revealing himself as Ghostface before leaving her to bleed out. Sidney is confronted by Charlie and a second Ghostface, who reveals herself as Jill. She admits to masterminding the murders out of jealousy of the fame that Sidney received for surviving the previous killing sprees and desires to achieve notoriety as a pseudo-victim of the murders, intending to frame Trevor as Ghostface. Jill kills Trevor and betrays Charlie, stabbing him to death to pin him as Trevor's accomplice so she can be the sole survivor. She then stabs Sidney and injures herself to frame Trevor further.
Dewey and the police arrive and Sidney and Jill are taken to the hospital. After discovering that Sidney has survived, an enraged Jill goes to her hospital room and makes a final attempt to kill her. At the same time, Dewey and Gale deduce that Jill was one of the killers due to a comment she made about Gale's attack that was not public knowledge. Dewey, Gale and Judy rush to aid Sidney, but Jill subdues them. During the commotion, Sidney is able to electrocute Jill with a defibrillator and shoot her in the heart, finally killing her. As Dewey calls for backup, reporters outside erroneously name Jill as a "hero right out of the movies".