Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) is one of the most unhinged Ghostfaces. Look no further than his brilliantly deranged monologue at the end of “Scream 4.” In the finale, she corners Sidney and reveals her true identity. “Hello, Sidney. Surprised?” she says. His eyes shine with a troubled brilliance. It wasn’t enough to kill Sidney. Oh no, it was always about becoming her. What about that friend thing? She doesn’t need it. “I don’t need friends. I need fans.”
Jill could have lived a normal, ho-hum existence — going to college, college, and work. Instead, she argues that the internet is enabling a kind of fame they never dreamed of before. “You don’t have to do anything. You just must have fucked the shit up that’s happening to you,” she adds. “Scream 4” arrived 11 years after the previous installment, so it’s the natural progression of an ongoing franchise to reconfigure some things. “New movie, new franchise,” continues Jill. “There’s only room for one track, and let’s face it, your days as an ingenue are over.”
When her big speech is over, Jill goes insane and starts hurting herself. It just has to look like she fought back, after all. She’s completely crazy, that one. Filled with sardonic humor, “Scream 4” was ahead of its time when it came to its commentary on influencer culture. For his part, Roberts delivers an ingenious and wonderfully unbalanced performance – making this a killer mid-range offering.
