Warning: This article contains mild spoilers for Scream 6.Scream 6‘s pair of shirtless scenes has sent fans into a tizzy online. The slasher sequel follows the survivors of the previous Ghostface rampage in Scream 2022, including twins Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and sisters Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), to New York City where a new killer begins to strike. A scene early in the film features Chad shirtless in a Halloween costume, while an interstitial scene features the new character Danny (She-Hulk and The Other Two star Josh Segarra) shirtless while ironing his clothes.
Now that Scream 6‘s premiere date has hit, fans share their initial responses online. A vast majority of them are thirst tweets expressing their appreciation for the film allowing both actors to go shirtless in major scenes. Check out select thirsty reactions below:
The New Scream Movies Are Flipping The Slasher Script With Their Shirtless Scenes
This pair of shirtless scenes provide a spiritual follow-up to the shower scene setpiece in Scream 2022. That film saw Dylan Minnette’s character Wes Hicks doff his top for a shower scene. In addition to emulating the slasher classic Psycho, this scene was a reversal of the fact that a typical 1980s slasher film was expected to show a scene of at least one female character topless.
This reversal is a progression from a trend in the original Scream trilogy. The first film, Scream 1996, featured a scene where Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) explained that characters who have sex in horror movies get killed, intercut with Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) getting physical with her boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). That scene undermined expectations by reversing the “sex = death” trope without having Campbell go topless, a trend that continued throughout her appearances in the franchise.
Radio Silence, the filmmaking collective behind Scream 2022 and Scream 6, has worked hard to keep the Scream tone alive while pushing the franchise in a new direction. In addition to the increased brutality of the kills in their films, these thirst trap moments are part of their plan to toy with audience expectations. Considering that subverting common film tropes is the foundation of the entire Scream franchise, this works well in multiple ways.
Source: Various (see above)