Reviews
I Know What You Did Last Summer
In a world already overrun with sequels and reboots, this reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer arrives in cinemas directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) and co-written with Sam Lansky. This latest visit to Southport is a direct sequel to the original I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. While there might have been potential to create a legacy sequel that pleased old fans and new, what we get is an underwhelming, disjointed mess, lacking scares or cohesion.
Nearly three decades after the Tower Bay murders, a new group of friends led by Danica (Madelyn Cline) and Teddy (Tyriq Withers) are stalked by a mysterious killer donning the famous rain slicker and hook. The film closely follows the original, not inherently bad given its cult classic status, but this sequel lacks tension, scares, clever twists, and offers the most disappointingly un-frightening killer. One major flaw is the awkward injection of Gen-Z dialogue often surfacing at the most inappropriate times. A particularly jarring standout being the line “Stop bro, I’ll give you the keys to my crypto wallet.” Perhaps the worst sin the movie commits is how boring it is. The excruciating pacing makes the movie a slog to get through, the first act is entirely rushed at a break neck speed whereas the second drags with repetitive scenes and dialogue that could be cut without consequence.
Jump scares in horror movies are almost guaranteed, and good execution can be very rewarding. Here, they are overused and pitifully obvious, spectacularly failing to scare or even create an element of tension. A good killer could, and probably should, have gone a long way to redeeming this sequel; with an already successful formula, this should’ve been a slam dunk. Somehow this latest venture of the slicker killer is extremely lacklustre. Marketing for the film has heavily relied on nostalgia bait powered by returning actors Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. Their reappearance almost three decades on will certainly be enough to get a few bums in seats, but anyone expecting them to play any sort of meaningful role will be disappointed. Their absence from the majority of the film makes it feel like their inclusion in the movie was shoehorned in, rather than a legitimate narrative choice.
Despite all of its flaws, perhaps the worst part of this movie is the final act, which will undoubtedly leave many fans with a bitter taste in their mouths. It is hard to describe without revealing spoilers, but the choices made could go as far as ruining the legacy of the franchise entirely. Character arcs that had been well developed are undermined and destroyed with the abrupt and insulting conclusion. Overall, I Know What You Did Last Summer goes down as an extremely disappointing reentry into the franchise. Fans deserved a legacy sequel that brought back everything they beloved, sprinkled with throw-back nostalgia. Instead, what has been delivered is a disjointed, baffling mess of a movie that goes down as one of the worst horror movies of 2025 so far. You won’t want to know what these film-makers did last summer.
