Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A young woman grieving the loss of her mother, a famous scream queen from the 1980s, finds herself pulled into the world of her mom's most famous movie. Reunited, the women must fight off the film's maniacal killer.
The Final Girls is a clever meta-horror comedy that blends genuine emotional resonance with slasher parody. Its strongest asset is its cinematography — the film-within-a-film conceit is visualized inventively, with stylized transitions, color shifts, and creative visual grammar that elevate it above typical genre spoofs. The plot is serviceable and emotionally grounded in the mother-daughter relationship, though it follows predictable beats once the premise is established. Acting is solid across the board, with Taissa Farmiga and Malin Åkerman bringing real warmth to their roles. Novelty is above average but not exceptional — the meta-slasher concept had precedents (Scream, Tucker and Dale), and while the execution is fresh, it doesn't feel wholly singular. The ending lands emotionally but feels slightly rushed and formulaic in its slasher resolution, undercutting the genuine pathos the film had built.