New Year, Same Movie – Almost… - By Megan Dawn
I Know What You Did Last Summer, the 2025 version, had a lot to live up. As a fan of
the original, I went into this one with no expectations that it would be as good as – or
better than – it’s predecessor. Good thing because that made it easier to enjoy the
movie. More on that at the end. Let’s talk about the movie first.
Also, consider this your spoiler warning.
This is your typical teen slasher flick.
We start with a group of friends – Danica (Madelyn Cline), Ava (Chase Sui Wonders),
Milo (Jonah Hauer-King), and Teddy (Tyriq Withers). Naturally, they are at a party. In
this case, an engagement party for Danica and Teddy who are – of course – just not
quite mature enough to be getting engaged. This is made evident a few scenes later
when the gang drives to a dangerous spot in the road that overlooks the water, gets out,
and gets high. Then there is the catalyst when Teddy needs to prove just how macho he
is by playing chicken with an oncoming car.
As expected, this results in disaster for the driver of that car. I will give our little gang
grace right here – they did rush to the truck, as it teetered precariously on the edge, to
try to get the driver out. Sadly, they were unsuccessful, and Sam went over the edge
with his truck.
Here we get a very sharp echo of the 1997 movie as the gang decides what they should
do. Ava thinks they need to rush down and try to save the guy in the truck – ala Julie
James (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Teddy thinks this is a really bad idea, a waste of time,
and says he will have his rich father take care of everything – ala Barry Cox (Ryan
Philippe). Danica sides with Teddy because he is her fiancé and she looks to him to be
in charge – ala Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar). And Milo just stands there not
knowing what to do or say and, ultimately, letting Teddy call the shots – ala Ray
Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr).
A year later most of the gang are back together. This time for a bridal shower for
Danica. However – PLOT TWIST – not for her wedding to Teddy. Nope, Teddy and
Danica are no longer together. Teddy lives on a boat and spends his time getting drunk
and high. Danica has found love with Wyatt (Joshua Orpin), whom she is now engaged
to. Clearly, this girl moves fast and does NOT like to be alone.
Enter the ‘Hookman.’ Or, as this movie seems to be calling him, the ‘Fisherman.’ And
poor Wyatt is our first casualty. This seems a bit unfair as he wasn’t even there when
Sam went over the cliff. But as the Fisherman does not go looking for Danica – who is
right upstairs taking a bath – we have to guess that Wyatt is meant to serve as a
warning. This seems to be confirmed when Danica finds his body propped in front of the
fireplace with the words ‘You can’t escape the past’ written in his blood on the wall.
Poor Wyatt, it was nice knowing you for those 5 minutes.
Wyatt’s death helps Ava find her inner Julie James, though. She suggests they start
looking into the 1997 murders. She calls Tyler (Gabriette Bechtel), a podcaster who is
in town to do an episode on the 1997 murders. Convenient, right.
Tyler takes Ava to the Bayside House. She tells Ava this was the sight of one of the
most gruesome murders of the 1997 spree. She flashes a shirt with Helen on it and
comments “Wasn’t she hot?” And I can’t help answering “Yes, Tyler. Yes, she was.” And
have you seen SMG lately? She still is!
However, it was not our Beauty Pageant winner who met her fate here. It was her
boyfriend Barry, whom she saw being slaughtered on the balcony. Helen met her fate
outside her family’s store.
Yet, in 2025, the Fisherman must have expected this move because he is there to
surprise Ava and Tyler. He traps Ava and then goes after Tyler. Apparently, the
Fisherman is not happy about her wanting to do a podcast on the first murder spree.
As Tyler runs from him, I flash back to another 90’s scary movie, 1996’s Scream. I hear
Sidney telling Ghost Face that she doesn’t like scary movies because the girl always
runs up the stairs instead of out the front door and it’s insulting. She wasn’t wrong in
1996 and it applies here in 2025. Because, of course, this is exactly what Tyler does.
And it ends just as we would expect it.
This inspires Ava to do the only thing that makes sense to her, track down Julie James.
Welcome back to Southport, J. Love! And damn if she doesn’t deliver.
“I just have one question. What did you do last summer?” The delivery of these lines
from our beloved Julie sent chills down my spine. And just like that I am completely …
well, hooked…
And, okay, maybe Julie’s advice was not the most helpful. But it was very very real.
Something you don’t see a lot of in these movies. Julie has been where Ava is. She is
not going to placate her or give her false hope. Julie barely survived her experience.
She is going to tell Ava how to survive the same way Julie did. That’s all she has to
offer.
Enter Ray Bronson and Freddie Prinze Jr – who wears the salt & pepper look very well,
I must say. Like Julie, Ray barely got out of 1997 alive. But he is not about to sit back
and let the Southport PD or Teddy’s dad, Grant, sweep all this under the rug. Nope, Ray
is there to make them listen to these kids in a way they would not listen to him and his
friends almost 3 decades before.
I love that Julie and Ray are not married or even on speaking terms. It is highly unlikely
that two people that went through what they did would be able to stay around each
other for any length of time. The memories, the pain, would just be too much. I am very
pleased to see that this movie recognized that and went with it. It’s a pleasant surprise.
I also love how much focus they are giving to remembering Helen. I know this is
because of my decades long love for SMG, but I’m not sorry about it.
Surprisingly, or not, the Fisherman shows up at the cemetery where Danica and Teddy
are looking for information on Sam. It’s looking more and more like this Fisherman is an
inside job. He has to either be part of the group or be close to someone that is in order
to know where they are going to be and when.
We now interrupt the killing for this very tense moment between Ray and Julie. And my
inner teenager doesn’t even care that they are arguing. I love having these two icons of
my childhood back on the screen together.
Also, listening to Freddie’s voice is always a win. I know this because I listen to both of
his current podcasts, as well as the one he did from 2017 – 2021. The man has a voice
like warm molasses. If he did audio books, I’d listen to those too.
Now we return to our new kids. Okay, I have to stop calling them kids because they’re
not. The actors are all between the ages of 27 and 30. I’m not sure how old the
characters are supposed to be but none of them are in college and Stevie (Sarah
Pidgeon) works at a bar. So I am going to guess mid to late 20’s.
And, for the love of Dionysus, why the hell is Milo outside sitting in his car alone when
he knows there is a killer focused on his entire friend group. I get that the killer has not
come after Milo, yet. But he has come after every other member of the group. All of
whom are inside the very house he is sitting outside of! Come on, Milo. You’re supposed
to be the rational one of the group.
… Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you, dude.
Speaking of warnings, I bet Grant wishes he had listened to Ray’s. I am sad about
Teddy, though. I liked that kid. He may have been the ‘rich’ guy, but he had a sweetness
about him.
On a happier note, I knew SMG had a guest appearance in this movie. And I have been
waiting for it, somewhat fearfully. But, holy hell, was it spectacular. I have seen
everything Sarah has ever done and loved every single role. But seeing her as a psycho
dream manifestation was absolutely glorious! Honestly, I don’t think there is anything
this woman cannot do!
We’ve reached the end of the movie, and I did say that the killer had to be working from
the inside. Turns out I was right. Twice.
This twist at the end – Dear Dionysus! In a very real way, it makes so much sense. Ray
may have survived 1997 but he lost everything. Even Julie, who left town and swore
never to come back. On top of that, the town put so much effort into erasing what
happened to Ray and his friends in 1997. But Ray couldn’t let it go. He couldn’t move
on. It fits. And how much do I love seeing Freddie play the bad guy!! It’s oddly thrilling, I
must say.
“What are you waiting for?” The scream that echoed through the late 90’s comes
roaring into 2025. Who would have thought Julie would have been yelling that at her
fellow survivor, though. From Ray’s reveal as a killer to Julie’s scream, it was a decent
ending.
Then it got a bit cheesy. Not bad cheesy, but that last conversation between Ava and
Danica just felt weird and slightly unnecessary. Maybe it was just me. The mid credit
scene more than made up for it, though. Julie and Karla back together is more than my
inner teenager could have hoped for.
As long as Karla doesn’t end up being the psycho in the next movie, that is. I think that
would be too much for even my very open mind to take.
Okay, I know I am very critical in this review. Perhaps more so than I usually am. But
that had to be expected given that I was such a huge fan of the original source material.
Hell, I was even a fan of the book that the original movie was loosely based on.
Yes, you read that right. The original movie was based on a 1973 novel by the same
name. It was written by Lois Duncan. I do recommend anyone that likes this move
franchise to check out the book.
Back to this movie – for a sequel that came out 28 years later…
Okay, that was unintentional, but it made me chuckle…
I did actually enjoy the movie. Yes, I am critical, but I like to think it is in a constructive
way. It’s not a bad movie. It’s campy and creepy and has a twist or two that surprised
even me. Believe me when I say that is hard to do. And the new actors were
impressive. I say new, because they are mostly new to me.
I have heard Madelyn’s name before, but have not seen anything she’s been in. I had
never heard of either Chase or Jonah before this movie, but they are both quite
impressive. Oddly, though he is the newest actor in the group, I was already a fan of
Tyriq. He is in a movie, HIM, that comes out later this month that I have been looking
forward to. And I have been following the movie – and its stars – on social media for
awhile. I didn’t realize Tyriq was in this movie until I started watching it. So that was a
nice surprise.
All in all, I would recommend this movie. Especially to my fellow 90’s kids that loved the
original. Just don’t go in expecting some cinematic masterpiece. Or something that is
going to revolutionize scary movies and bring them back to the glory of the 80’s horror
movie. If you go in expecting this one to be exactly what it is, you’ll have a good time.
And, if nothing else, enjoy the slow and enticing sound of Freddie’s voice.