In the small town of Woodsboro, a teenage girl, Casey Becker, becomes the target of a mysterious killer in a white mask. After a terrifying phone call that escalates into a deadly game of 'horror movie trivia', Casey is brutally murdered, along with her boyfriend. The heinous crime shakes the community and leads to a curfew in the town. The killer, dubbed "Ghostface" for the costume they don, is soon linked to the brutal murder of Maureen Prescott – the mother of Sidney Prescott – which occurred nearly a year earlier. As the anniversary of her mother's death nears, Sidney grapples with the resurfacing trauma amidst the mounting hysteria of a serial killer on the loose.

While attempting to cope with the return of her mother's alleged killer and the ongoing murders, Sidney's life is thrown into further disarray as she herself is targeted by Ghostface, narrowly escaping an attack at her home. As the body count rises, suspicion falls on various townsfolk, including Sidney's boyfriend, Billy, and other high school students. Reporter Gale Weathers arrives in town chasing the story, her presence a grim reminder of her previous intrusive coverage of Maureen's murder, which further agitates the tense atmosphere. As local law enforcement, including Deputy Dewey Riley, scrambles to protect Sidney and find the killer, it becomes clear that everyone in Woodsboro is a potential suspect—or a potential victim. The killer's true identity and motives remain shrouded in mystery as the town's dark secrets slowly come to light.