Back in January 2022, the Scream franchise was given a whole new lease of life when the franchise was given its very ‘requel’ with Scream V.
Directed by Ready Or Not’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the story followed siblings Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega) who discover their family history has ties with the original killings in Woodsboro and end up embroiled in a new set of killings undertaken by Ghostface.
The film starts with Tara getting attacked by Ghostface, causing her estranged sister Sam to come home to look after her: “In the fifth one, they had been estranged for many, many years,” Barrera says. “And so it was them coming together.
“[But] with Tara being in the hospital and constantly getting attacked, it didn’t really give room to properly explore the colours of a relationship.”
Now the pair are back for Scream VI and Barrera tells us that the new movie really explores Tara and Sam’s bond: “I think it’s a true sister relationship in this movie,” she nods. “In Scream VI, you get to see all the ups and downs of siblings. You get to see the love, you get to see the protection on both sides. You get to see the friction of ‘give me space you can’t be with me all the time!'” she laughs.
Scream VI is set in New York and sees Tara attending college. However, after the trauma of what happened to them in Woodsboro, Sam has moved to New York too, to keep a close eye on her sister.
“I think it’s such a human, such a real thing, to have all of these colours to a relationship and it’s beautiful that we get to see them because it really grounds the story,” Barrera continues.
It’s not just Melissa and Jenna who have returned to star in Scream VI, they’re joined by the entire ‘core four’ with Mason Gooding who plays Chad and Jasmin Savoy Brown who plays Mindy.
That’s not all, the movie also sees the return of OG Scream star Courtney Cox who has returned as Gale Weathers, and Hayden Panettiere who plays Kirby (from Scream 4), alongside returning Scream V directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.
For Barrera, reuniting with her sibling co-star Jenna Ortega for the sixth movie in the franchise and getting to explore that sibling bond has been particularly special when set against the bloody slasher backdrop.
“This franchise can be so heightened sometimes, you have the big kills and the comedy, but the sibling story really grounds it and gives it a lot of depth and a lot of heart. So it’s beautiful that we get to do that,” she says.
“I also just love Jenna so much, getting to act with her and getting to do all those quiet moments with her in the midst of all the chaos is beautiful.”
