Reviews
[TV Review] “Scream” Episode 2.02: ‘Psycho’
Scream decided to hold off on revealing Jake’s murder this week and chose instead to focus on Emma’s readjustment to normal life. Meanwhile, Audrey is still sloppily trying to cover up the connection she had with Piper by threatening motel receptionists using an app to mimic the killer’s voice and Kieran dealt with some new family members moving into town.
If there’s one thing that is working in Scream’s favor this season, it is that a whole season’s worth of character buildup really is paying off. It is becoming easier to care about these characters (as opposed to laughing at them) this season than it was last season. This could also be because the new characters aren’t making much of an impression, thereby enhancing the connection we have with the characters from last season, but it still works in Season 2’s favor. You actually care about the majority of these characters much more than you would have at the same point last season. Hell, even Kieran is starting to grow on me.
What it doesn’t do is benefit the new characters this season. Zoe is still a non-entity, getting a brief scene this week in which she confronts Emma about a missed tutoring session (thrilling, isn’t it?). Gustavo hasn’t really been given much to do besides play the role of Creepy New Kid, though he does get some nice back and forth with Brooke at the police station. As for his father Miguel, he gets to intrude on Kieran’s life when he discovers that that he hasn’t been living with his legal guardian since his father died and tells him he has to move in with her. We learn that he is a rule-follower (hence his appropriate position as the sheriff), but we haven’t been able to spend enough time with him to really get a feel for the character.
Interestingly enough, it is Kieran’s guardian/aunt Tina who gets some decent development this week, and this is after only a handful of introductory scenes. In fact, she was given more screen time than Zoe, Gustavo and Miguel. There is an air of mystery about her character involving the life she is leaving behind in Florida, but the fact that this creepy aunt (and her similarly creepy son Eli) can feel so organic to the plot when Zoe, Gustavo and Miguel still feel like enigmas is confusing to say the least. Tina already feels like an established character, which is a good thing but begs the question as to why the other new characters don’t. Now that Tina and Eli are moving to Lakewood, it should provide some much-needed depth to Kieran as well as Maggie, who seems to be pretty close with Tina.
As for Brooke, she has proven to be one of the more frustrating characters on the show because she is excellent at giving advice (and telling it like it is) but when it comes to her own life she is incapable of making a smart decision. Case in point: her ready to immediately crawl back in Jake’s arms when he fails to respond to her texts ( apparently it’s the guy who has to break the “text standoff” after a breakup) since he’s, you know, dead and all. Such is the mind of a teenager, especially one who has been through as much as Brooke, but it is frustrating to see her fall back into her old ways after moments of empowerment. She may not be suffering from PTSD like Emma, but she is still dealing with the trauma in unhealthy ways. It is unfortunate that even in death, Jake still has a powerful grip over Brooke’s story. This will hopefully be remedied once Jake’s body is discovered next week, but for this week’s episode it was disheartening to see the return of boy-dependent Brooke. She can be a strong female character, but this is a glaring weakness in her characterization.
Emma, on the other hand, had plenty to do tonight. She did seem to get over her PTSD rather quickly, didn’t she? I jest of course. Surely this isn’t the last we’ve seen of her hallucinations, but it was unintentionally funny to see her appear to be miraculously cured after visiting the pier where she killed Piper, only to jump into a steamy car scene with Kieran. That being said, Emma was the centerpiece of the episode and it did her some good. I’ve harped on Emma and Fitzgerald’s acting many a times before, but this was definitely one of the stronger outings for the character.
We got to meet Emma’s father Kevin for real this time. As you may recall, Tom Everett Scott made an appearance last season only for it to be revealed that he was merely a figment of her imagination. Well, looks like daddy’s back for real this time. It was a little weird that he kept creepily following Emma around town in his car when he could have just stepped out and said “hello,” but it’s clear they have a rocky relationship. He will undoubtedly provide another red herring in a show full of them (Tina, Eli, Gustavo, Haley, Audrey, Quinn, etc.), but it’s always nice to see Scott getting work, and
All this business with Audrey needs to get dealt with soon. What may have been an intriguing cliffhanger in the first season final has already worn out its welcome and feels like a drag. Unless Audrey does turn out to be Piper’s actual accomplice (which will most likely not be the case), her entire subplot will feel unnecessary. If she does turn out to be a villain, good for Scream, but I’m not holding my breath. After nearly being discovered by Noah, she scares the motel clerk (who goes under the screen name EddieKrueger in Noah’s podcast comments) using an app that mimic’s the killer’s voice and then find Jake’s body in the storage locker that could have contained incriminating evidence against her. It’s all well and good, but I can’t help but feel that the mystery surrounding Audrey is going to amount to a big misunderstanding.
Scream still isn’t breaking any new ground, but it is moving with more confidence than it was last season. Everything involving the characters from last season is working swimmingly, but the new characters could definitely use some attention. It’s only episode two though, so you can’t hold it against the show that much. At the very least, it’s doing a good job at keeping you invested in an episode where no one died. That’s something, right?
Random Notes
- Scream Thinks the Audience is Stupid Moment: Noah giving a tutorial on suspense in the episode’s closing moments
- “Whoa, somebody’s jumpy today.” -Gee Noah, it’s probably because you scared her.
- Emma reaction to Brooke telling Audrey and Noah to tell her what Jake had been saying about her was actually pretty funny:
- “I even told him a quick response would get him a boob pic.”
- Does anyone else think Ms. Lang is getting a little too chummy with her students? Her passing reference to who her students sleep with certainly seems like something parents would have a field day with. And then she has a therapy session with Emma at a coffee shop? I’m not buying it.
- “Emma, what’s on your lizard brain?” -Do people actually say things like this?
- “No response to your boob pic promise, huh?”
- “I was stabbed and left in a freezer.” -Touché, Brooke. Other than Emma, Brooke definitely got the worst of it last season. But her arguing with Gustavo about where she ranks with the rest of the Lakewood Six was pretty great.
- Brooke’s dad looks to be up to some shenanigans. I hope Scream doesn’t set him up as a red herring again. That would be pretty lazy.
- “Life doesn’t come with trigger warnings.” “Well it should. They should invent an app for that.” –Scream has never been one to use subtlety when it comes to mentioning social media and technology, but this line was particularly cringe-worthy. It doesn’t even make sense.
- “Am I going to have a meltdown every time I see a brunette drinking a nonfat mocha?”
- “Yeah she had that creepy J-horror hair and those weirdo glasses.” -Best description of Piper EVER.
Movies
‘Recluse’ Review – Harrowing Haunted House Horror With Lots Of Skeletons In Its Closet [Tribeca 2026]
A haunted house story is tense, terrifying storytelling when it’s properly executed. There’s been a growing tendency in horror to blend together harrowing haunted house stories with traumatic homecomings. A family member’s illness or death triggers a return to something dark that was intentionally left behind. Recluse hits all the tropes that one expects to find in this type of horror film, yet it manages to push this story in a daring, disturbing new direction that uses sound as a superpower.
It’s a unique lens to experience a familiar story about family secrets, generational trauma, unresolved grief, and the importance of not just legacy, but preservation. It’s a hell of a directorial debut from Henry Chaisson that’s guaranteed to get under the audience’s skin as they’re dragged through this painful, toxic tale.
Recluse is a gothic haunted house story where an isolated audio engineer, Joan (Sasha Frolova), returns to her family’s estate to check in on her father after he suffers a terrible accident. Joan suddenly discovers something much more sinister that paints her family’s tragedies in a very different light. Chaisson’s debut functions as a fascinating companion piece to this year’s undertone, which does a lot of the same things.
These two films make for a fascinating case of parallel thinking that tackles comparable subject matter through a similar lens, albeit in a bigger, less claustrophobic story in Recluse’s case. In fact, it’s the perfect horror film for anyone who was let down by undertone and didn’t feel like it brought enough to the table. It’s a considerably more conventional horror film, but this isn’t meant to denigrate its high quality. Recluse may hit some familiar notes, but it’s a scary, well-crafted haunted house horror story that goes for the jugular.
A gripping mystery that involves the tragic, unresolved circumstances that surround Joan’s mother teases a chilling connection to the recent horrors that have afflicted her father. Joan desperately tries to put these pieces together and give her family some sense of grander peace before she’s pulled under and becomes another victim of this festering curse that’s systematically worked its way through the Wyatt family. By doing so, Recluse digs into some deeper commentary on collective trauma, a very literal look at the “sins of the father” adage, and how one selfish decision can ripple through generations and fracture off into different dilemmas. By the end, Recluse has brilliantly flipped the powerful concept of legacy on its head by illustrating the horrors and sense of entitlement that can be born out of this idea.
A legacy is just another name for a curse under the right context.
”Listen” is a simple but powerful command from Joan’s father that she briefly obsesses over. In a way, it becomes Recluse’s grander mission statement, whether it’s in response to Joan listening to the people in her life, the signals that her body and mind are telling her, or the world’s greater whims. It’s important to reconnect with these grounding pillars, especially when it feels like control is slipping away.
Recluse excels with how audio and soundscapes can create entire universes that are full of rich details that transport individuals to these environments. There’s also a level of objectivity when it comes to audio recordings and the evergreen permanence that they’re able to provide. Joan’s career as an audio engineer makes sense for someone who wants to cling to hard evidence and proof of existence. It provides great insight into Joan without ever getting lost in contrived exposition.
Joan’s entire life is built around audio engineering, and so it makes sense that Recluse features excellent sound design that really goes above and beyond with its production elements. All of the sound design is expertly handled and turns the film into something special. These auditory elements intuitively keep the audience on edge so that they’re more susceptible to the actual scares that eventually strike. The smallest sound effect gets turned into a crushing, cacophonous assault. It’s a really effective way to build terror. Writer/Director Chaisson also handles the film’s music, which achieves a sublime, unnerving dissonance that further heightens the free-floating anxiety.
The story at the center of Recluse is slightly generic in some respects, but the film’s visual language and tone make it feel distinctly memorable. It also doesn’t hurt that the home that Joan returns to is basically an eerie art studio that’s full of contorted paintings. Recluse never struggles to generate mounting dread and terror that pump through every scene. Powerful, thoughtful cinematography consistently reinforces the film’s themes. Joan is constantly reflected in different surfaces or viewed through mirrors. She’s also often confined to tight, constricting framing that all speaks to her refracted identity during this moment of loss and her attempts to regain agency and control by making sense of something that’s seemingly unexplainable.
Recluse is full of truly disturbing visuals that make it seem like Joan is lost in a dream that turns out to be an extended nightmare. It’s a surreal journey reminiscent of invasive psychological horror like Silent Hill, with a touch of Sinister and Hereditary thrown in for good measure. There are so many individual frames that could endlessly fuel urban legends and creepypastas.
It does a great job with how it presents Joan’s fragile state of mind, where chilling flashes of the past sneak up on her and unresolved trauma manifests into unsettling imagery. There are endless shots that are obscured in darkness, or shadow is creeping in from the corners of frames like a suffocating force of nature. It’s very rare that a scene is fully lit. It leads to a very lonely, isolating atmosphere that’s easy to get lost in.
Chaisson’s debut stands out from the many other high-minded haunted house horror films without succumbing to the same pretensions that often drag down these stories. It’s a grief-stricken character study that’s full of upsetting visuals that scratch at something visceral and raw. The horror elements connect, and the answers to its grander mystery provide an appropriate and believable sense of closure. Those who are looking for an atmospheric horror film that isn’t afraid to be different while still channeling something real will appreciate Recluse.
Recluse made its world premiere at Tribeca; release info TBD.
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