I’m a massive fan of slasher films. It’s a guilty pleasure because I’m aware that, on an artistic level, they are usually bottom-of-the-barrel basic. Movies like Scream, Halloween, Final Girls and, most recently, Heart Eyes, have always been a really fun time but have not been on anyone’s Oscar shortlist. I Know What You Did Last Summer (the original) didn’t buck that trend, and although I enjoyed it, that film was never at the top of my rewatch list.
I was, however, very excited by the prospect of I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025). As Scream (2022) coined it, a “requel” in the franchise could appeal to the OG fans while attempting to garner a greater audience. Scream did it terrifically, perfectly blending legacy characters while establishing a new Core Four. IKWYDLS had a tough task to live up to that.
But could it? Would the return of originals, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt as Ray and Julie, be enough to resurrect this dead franchise? Let’s find out.
When Ava (Chase Sui Wonders) returns to Southport for the engagement party of her friends Dani (Madelyn Cline) and Teddy (Tyriq Withers), tragedy strikes. All three, along with their high school chums Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon) and Milo (Jonah Hauer-King), were messing around on a dangerous road, a little intoxicated, and inadvertently caused the car crash and death of a passerby. But, worse than that, they didn’t even stick around to make a statement… DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN. With the help of Teddy’s dad, they got away with it…
Or so they thought.
One year later, at Dani’s bridal shower, she receives a note saying, “I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER.” Sound familiar? It probably should, and especially in this town. Almost 30 years ago, a similar set of events culminated in the brutal deaths of countless Southport residents, a stain on the town they’d all like to forget. But when a new killer emerges with the same MO and dressed in the same gear, forgetting is easier said than done.
The world-building was great. Being back in Southport was weird because it felt like the run-down fishing town of 1997 was gone, replaced with a sanitised, gentrified mockery. That was the whole point, though. Teddy’s real estate mogul father redeveloped the entire town to put all of that nasty serial killer business behind them. And, it sort of worked. Nobody wants to remember the events of 1997, and the new generation isn’t even aware of the town’s history. I thought that was an interesting way to begin anew.
What’s the key to my heart with a slasher film? It’s varied, grotesque and sometimes funny kills, of course! I Know What You Did Last Summer had some pretty good ones, using everything from the trademarked fish-hook, harpoon, and even some rope. And the way the killer displayed their victims was a scary warning that brought the stakes up a notch. Although I think the kills could have been more spectacular in places, they were pretty solid, with good stalking and fight sequences in the lead-up to them.
The legacy character cameos were also done to perfection. They weren’t overused, but it was integral to the narrative, and that’s how it’s supposed to be. I was always a Scream kid, but I did pop off for Freddie and Jennifer Love Hewitt being back in this universe. Both hadn’t missed a step, and they played their roles to perfection.
I feel like I should have had more sympathy for this new group of twenty-somethings because they didn’t actually directly kill the dude that the masked maniac wants revenge for. In the original, the group ran the guy over and yeeted him off a cliff. Conversely, Milo and Teddy tried to save the driver before the car fell over the edge by itself. I mean, they’re still to blame, but they’re not terrible terrible. However, I FREAKING HATED ALLLLLLLLLL OF THEM.
When you’re rooting for the killer, you know you have a problem with the protagonists, right? And, boy, was I hoping the killer hooked all of these dumbasses to death from the start. They’re all insufferable. Ava is positioned as the least bad, but I couldn’t stand her whining or her relationship with Milo, who, again, was supposed to be a “nice” person. Urgh. Maybe it was his stint on Doctor Who that gave me the ick, but he sucked so bad. The rest of that crew were openly bad people, and I just couldn’t.
The legacy characters and a couple of cannon-fodder acquaintances were the only people I liked in the entire film, and that’s not what you want if you’re trying to reinvigorate the franchise. Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar as Helen Shivers, and Jennifer Love Hewitt channelled their younger selves to produce good performances in their original roles, but that’s a bonus for a requel, not the ambition.
This isn’t the way to revive a dormant franchise. When the OG cast and the killer are the people you vibe with, then this type of movie has failed. I don’t want to see another entry with the survivors of this entry (no spoilers). They need to die off-screen and be forgotten. I know that seems harsh, but I couldn’t give a f*ck about any of them.
However, as a slasher movie, I Know What You Did Last Summer is fairly solid. It can improve in multiple areas, but I liked the kill scenes, legacy cast appearances, and being back in Southport once again. Whilst it was a bit weird to hate these “protagonists,” at least it made me feel something.
Go into this one with your eyes wide open, just expecting a good time and nothing truly exceptional, and you might enjoy it. But this isn’t the savior of the franchise for a long shot.
