"Please Don’t Kill Me Mr. Ghostface, I Wanna Be in the Sequel"

 “What’s your favorite scary movie?”

Think about your favorite scary movie. I’d bet some money that the person left at the end is a woman. I’m also guessing that the woman alive by the time the credits roll is probably a little different than the girl you were introduced to at the beginning: covered in blood, some battle scars, lots of trauma, and a lot less friends. 

Surviving the brutal killings of a slasher movie allows a character to claim her title as a “final girl.” A “final girl” is most simply defined as the female character left standing to face off against the killer and ultimately kill them in a horror movie. It is one of the most popular tropes in the slasher genre. Final girls are most often in the horror genre, but the concept can span genres like science fiction. Though the actual term “final girl” was coined in 1992 by Carol J. Clover in her book Men, Women and Chain Saws, final girls have existed before that. Some iconic characters in the ranks of the “final girl” are Sidney Prescott (Scream), Laurie Strode (Halloween), Ellen Ripley (Alien), Grace le Domas (Ready or Not), Deena Johnson (Fear Street), and so many more. 

Within the trope, there is a common thread of characteristics that final girls usually possess. For example, final girls are virgins. “Death by sex” is a slasher trope meant to discourage viewers from engaging in sexual activities because as soon as the characters do so in the movie, they die. Additionally, final girls do not partake in any drugs or alcohol. These are behaviors that society looks down upon and deem girls who abstain from them “worthy of living.” Virginity and purity were favored in the conservative and misogynist 1980s. She also might be masculinized in some way, either by a unisex name or her behavior that may appear tomboyish. The audience usually follows the film’s narrative through the eyes of the final girl, so she’s smart, curious, and courageous. A caveat to the final girl trope is even if a girl survives the first movie, her final girl status can be revoked in the sequel, which is quite common in films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. As the slasher genre and times have evolved, the final girl trope has become more progressive, and these characteristics are actually subverted. 

Enter Sidney Prescott from the Scream franchise. 

The 1996 hit film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson revitalized the slasher genre. Scream follows Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a year out from her mother’s murder, and her high school friends as they try to survive a masked killer called Ghostface. Something that sets Scream apart from other horror films is its own awareness of slasher tropes. Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy), the film’s horror movie buff, points out these tropes and informs his friends so they can avoid them and stay alive. The films get even more meta when they establish a franchise within a franchise called Stab that the characters watch and draw from. 

We are introduced to Sidney as a senior in high school and follow her over twenty years as she fights off Ghostfaces in her hometown of Woodsboro. She battles her boyfriend, relatives, and horror film finatics throughout the franchise. She goes from a doe eyed teenager to a hardened survivor. Sidney goes through enough trauma to last five lifetimes, but every time she faces a new Ghostface, she is resilient as she fights for her life. She’s also an incredibly strong character as she continues to be tormented by these killers while trying to grow and move on. In Scream 3, Sidney attempts to live off the grid, but is still roped back into the Ghostface killings and forced to fight again. Another of Sidney’s admirable qualities is her selflessness in these stressful situations. Whether you’re a long time friend of hers or another traumatized teen she just met, she’ll do whatever she can to make sure you live. Though she seems to attract them, if you’re ever being chased by masked killers, you’ll definitely want Sidney in your corner. 

Aside from her complexity, what sets Sidney apart from other final girls is the tropes she subverts. Sidney loses her virginity during the film, but doesn’t die because of it. In fact, the man she has sex with is Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), one of the two Ghostfaces of the first film. After Sidney’s virginity is taken, the killer pursues her, but fails to kill her. Thus, she subverts the “death by sex” trope. Also, in most slasher movies, final girls are victims to the narrative. They lack an understanding and control of what’s happening, so they’re forced to survive in their circumstances. Throughout the Scream movies, Sidney is very much in control. She isn’t a victim to anyone else’s decisions because she understands her environment and the horror genre. She can choose when to exit the narrative by leaving Woodsboro or return, like in Scream (2022), to avenge her friend. Her choices may not always be the right one, but she is the one making them nonetheless. Sidney Prescott has total agency over her story and paved the way for other final girls to have that privilege.

Unfortunately, Sidney Prescott will not be in the sixth installment of the Scream franchise after contract negotiations fell through. However, her iconic legacy spanning five films firmly cements her in final girl herstory.