Scream 7 promised to bring back Matthew Lillard as Stu Macher, but his return ended up feeling like a copout, because the movie didn’t really commit to it. After Melissa Barrera was fired and Jenna Ortega walked out in solidarity, Scream 7 pivoted to a reunion tour bringing back Neve Campbell to take her rightful place in the spotlight as Sidney Prescott.
30 years ago, we saw Sidney drop a TV on Stu’s head and seemingly kill him. But, from its very opening scene, Scream 7 teases that maybe Stu isn’t dead after all — and he’s back for more Ghostface murders. The way the movie explained Stu’s return ended up being a disappointment, because it didn’t commit to the bit.
As Long As Scream 7 Was Bringing Back Matthew Lillard, It Should’ve Committed To Resurrecting Stu
When Sidney gets her first Ghostface call in Scream 7, the audio call switches to a video call and a horribly scarred Stu tells her he survived, and now, he’s back for vengeance. But as the movie goes on, we only ever see Stu through this FaceTime lens, and he’s acting a bit weird (even for him), so it seems dubious.
Toward the end of Scream 7, when the Ghostface killers finally unmask themselves, we learn that the Stu we saw on FaceTime was just a very sophisticated deepfake created by an orderly from a psychiatric hospital who happens to be an A.I. wiz. That felt like a very underwhelming reveal, because it didn’t live up to its promise.
As unbelievable as it would’ve been to reveal that Stu somehow survived, as long as they were bringing back Lillard, they should’ve just gone through with it. Limiting Lillard’s appearance to a phone screen reminded me of Jeff Goldblum’s cameo in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, where his return was hyped up in the trailers, but his role was confined to a single Senate hearing.
Any Other Explanation For Stu’s Return Feels Like A Copout
Once the notion of Stu’s survival has been floated, any other explanation for his return feels like a copout. By bringing back Stu without really bringing him back, it feels like Scream 7 is trying to have its cake and eat it, too. Lillard isn’t really even playing Stu in this movie; he’s playing the orderly’s digital impersonation of Stu.
If Scream 7 had actually retconned Stu’s death, then Lillard could’ve shared the screen with Campbell. Instead, we just see him in a handful of FaceTime calls. He could’ve shot his entire role in the movie in less than an hour, without meeting any of his co-stars. After all the hype, that was a massive let-down.