Melissa Barrera has been making interesting choices with her projects since her breakout role in the 2021 musical In the Heights.

The actress entered the Scream franchise as Sam Carpenter who has an intriguing connection to the original Scream film. She and Jenna Ortega played the Carpenter sisters and starred in both 2022’s Scream and 2023’s Scream VI.
Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega in Scream VI
Unfortunately, Barrera was fired from Scream 7 due to her controversial political statements which led to various setbacks in the pre-production process of the film.

However, Barrera has pursued other exciting projects and has the vampire-horror film Abigail coming soon. The reviews of the film have started to come in and it seems Barrera has another hit on her hands.

Abigail’s Positive Reviews is Great News for Melissa Barrera After Her Scream Fiasco

Melissa Barrera as Joey in Abigail
Melissa Barrera‘s career took a hit when she was fired from Scream 7 due to her comments about the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, which were deemed antisemitic (via The Hollywood Reporter). Audiences were divided on the controversy and Barrera has since moved on from that mess and has a new film coming up in the form of Abigail.

The vampire-horror film from Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett reunites the directors and Barrera after working together on Scream and Scream VI. The reviews of the film have started coming out and people are praising the campy yet terrifying nature of the film. This has been a continuing trend in the directors” resume ever since Ready or Not.

Comicbook.com’s Brandon Davis posted his review of the film on X and lauded the vicious and entertaining nature of the film. He gave a shout to Barrera and Dan Stevens’ performances along with its clever script. He wrote,

“Yo #Abigail is my favorite horror movie in a fat minute. It’s hilariously vicious and so bloody entertaining. Melissa Barrera and Dan Stevens are great in it. It’s clever, ridiculous, and just fantastic. I jumped, laughed, had a ball. Go see it.”

Other fans also chimed in and shared Davis’s sentiments about the film. Here are what other people said, who were blown away by Abigail:

Barrera is also getting a lot of praise for her work in the film. This looks like a potential big hit for the actress and deservedly so, as she is a very talented movie star. After her recent controversy, the success of Abigail where she works with filmmakers who utilize her strengths is the perfect comeback.

Abigail Directors Were Excited to Mesh Heist Elements With a Horror Film

Abigail has all the unique trademarks of Radio Silence’s previous works
Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, collectively known as Radio Silence, are back with another horror film Abigail. The film chronicles a group of criminals tasked with kidnapping a young girl to get a big paycheck. Little do they know that the girl is a wicked vampire ready to spill the blood of her captors.

Gillett talked to Screenrant about what drew them to the film. He and Olpin were very interested in the exciting blend of a heist film along with the wild and bloody monster movie. This brought so many fun possibilities for the plot of the film with many twists and surprising character moments. He said,

“It was just so inspiring for us to not only get to mash up a heist movie and a monster movie, but to have a character at the center of it who seems to be innocent, helpless, and who is literally anything but, both of those things. It was just so fun. There were so many opportunities for twists and turns and fun sequences and fun character moments. We were just sold from jump.”

The film stars Alisha Weir as the titular character along with Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, and Giancarlo Esposito. The film has received positive reviews and currently has an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.