Jasmin Savoy Brown makes horror expertise funny because she gives it such conviction. We rate her comic assurance; the danger, evident in Scream 7, is that familiar enthusiasm becomes an excuse not to write her a proper part.
Fi1m perspective
Mindy Meeks-Martin starts explaining horror films, and Brown makes the lecture feel like something she has been waiting all evening to deliver. We laughed at her fervour in Scream (2022), because the pleasure she takes in knowing this stuff is so clear. The comedy needs that conviction. Without it, these speeches would be a lengthy way of telling us that somebody has watched the same films we have.
Brown's work extends beyond being the person who can explain the genre. Her recurring Evie Murphy in The Leftovers (2015–2017) preceded the larger parts of 2021: teenage Taissa Turner in Yellowjackets (2021) and Alexis in Sound of Violence (2021), her first film lead. The latter called on empathy and intensity, which is useful to remember when the franchise work keeps giving her horror expertise to recite. Mindy and Taissa are also queer characters whose sexuality is allowed to be part of their lives without becoming their central difficulty. We value that matter-of-fact approach, though it still leaves the writing responsible for giving them something interesting to do.
In Scream VI (2023), Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett give us Brown and Mason Gooding as twins Mindy and Chad. The pair are good company in a film we liked only with reservations. Its set pieces are stronger than its talk, and the weak mystery is beyond anything a supporting performance could repair. Brown's comic assurance helps, but we would sooner hear her given better dialogue than congratulate her for getting through the familiar material.
Scream 7 (2026) makes that frustration harder to ignore. Kevin Williamson's film chiefly uses Brown and Gooding to remind us of the previous two entries, where they were given more opportunity to contribute. That is particularly frustrating after the confidence of those earlier appearances, and it leaves little fresh evidence on which to judge her. Start with Brown's first Scream; the seventh has little use for what made her worth bringing back.
Biography
Jasmin Savoy Brown is an American actress. She was born on 21 March 1994 in Alameda, California, and raised in Springfield, Oregon.
Brown began her career with guest roles in series including Grimm (2013) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013). She appeared as Evangeline Murphy in The Leftovers (2015–2017) and as a series regular in For the People (2018–2019). She is known for her role as Teen Taissa Turner in Yellowjackets (2021–present).
Brown plays Mindy Meeks-Martin in the Scream films, appearing in Scream (2022), Scream VI (2023) and Scream 7 (2026). She also starred in Sound of Violence (2021) and provided the voice and motion capture for Phin Mason / Tinkerer in the video game Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020).
