I Know What You Did Last Summer Review
I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) Film Review, a movie directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, written by Sam Lansky, Leah McKendrick and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and starring Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Austin Nichols, Joshua Orpin, Georgia Flood, Nick Farnell, Nick Hardcastle, Simone Annan, Luke Van Os, Isaiah Mustafa and Leah McKendrick.
Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson improves upon 1997’s horror movie misfire, I Know What You Did Last Summer, with a fresh and entertaining “requel” which reboots and follows up the story from the original first film in energetic and creative ways. This new picture is almost as enjoyable as the recent Scream “requels,” and it follows in that franchise’s footsteps by bringing in old-time stars and mixing them in with the new featured talent. This updated North Carolina-set tale of friendship and murder will keep audiences guessing right until its very last frames.
Madelyn Cline plays Danica Richards, a young girl who receives an unsolicited note at her wedding shower from an unknown author that states “I know what you did last summer.” This note comes one year after Danica and her friends accidentally let a young male driver fall to his death from a cliff. If you’ve seen the atrocious 1997 film, you’d think that the plot line in the “requel” would closely follow the one in the original movie. Robinson improves upon the original plot with enough twists and surprises to keep audiences wondering which way the clever plot will turn next. For one, the movie incorporates the story of the first movie into the action so it’s certainly not a shot-for-shot remake.
Chase Sui Wonders plays Ava Brucks, the true “scream queen” of Robinson’s successful new horror picture. When Ava returns to her hometown after being away, she hooks up with a female podcaster who she met on the plane. Ava is ultimately the most unique and relatable character in the film. She’s unpredictable and has fierce determination. Ava regrets what happened “last summer” and is there for her friend, Danica, after the loss of Danica’s would-be husband who dies a gruesome death at the hands of a fisherman killer with a hook as a weapon.
There are a couple of guys who are light love interests for these central ladies. There’s Tyriq Withers as Teddy Spencer, a young man whose erratic behavior directly led to the crash “last summer.” Withers is the strongest of the young male actors in the picture. There’s also the guilt-ridden Milo Griffin (Jonah Hauer-King) who feels weird when the girl he likes, Ava, asks him to choke her during a love-making session. Hauer-King is OK, but despite a passing resemblance to a young Freddie Prinze Jr., there’s not much to say about Hauer-King’s work here.
Then, we have actress Sarah Pidgeon as a poorer girl from town named Stevie Ward who was a last-minute addition to the group at the film’s outset. She plays a large part in the action here and Pidgeon is a welcome addition to the cast with her simultaneously mysterious and appealing qualities.
Jennifer Love Hewitt reprises her role from the old movie as Julie James, now a teacher who digs deep into issues of trauma after surviving the events of 28 years ago. For good measure, Freddie Prinze Jr. arrives to portray Ray Bronson, his own character from the original film who is now divorced from Julie and living the life of a loner.
Sarah Michelle Gellar (also of the 1997 film) has a cameo this time out that I really shouldn’t say too much about. There is a dream sequence where she appears as her old character that fits right into this film and the horror genre in general. It was a stroke of genius to bring her back on-board in this clever and frightening way. Gellar also gets some solid one-liners in her big scene that work quite well in the context of the picture One that references her age is certainly the funniest. Wait until you see who also pops up from the 1998 sequel to the original movie during the film’s mid-end credits sequence!
I Know What You Did Last Summer has all the ingredients that horror fans love. I liked the Prinze Jr character even if the actor’s performance is occasionally wooden. Prinze Jr. performs the role the way it should be acted out for a very particular reason. Hewitt is adequate as the link to the previous events which occurred in the earlier film which are integrated into the new picture’s story line, as previously stated.
Cline and Wonders are the glue that holds the new story line together. When they’re locked in a jail questioning room by some cops, that is the time when the terrific Sarah Michelle Gellar cameo happens. Cline nails her big sequences and Wonders is even better as she presents to the audience a character who we want to see survive. When the movie takes the action onto a boat, it gets even more suspenseful as some really good twisty sequences follow.
There are some red herrings here which include a religious set of characters with a supposed agenda. My advice is to not think too hard while watching the film. I tried to pay attention to who was on-screen when murders were being committed to try to figure out who the psycho was and that was ruining the fun. My advice is to just sit back, relax and get ready to enjoy this
“requel” which is certainly bound to be the horror thrill ride of the month, if not the entire summer.
Rating: 7/10
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