“I Know What You Did Last Summer” Resurrected, But Does It Bury the Franchise for Good? | Review

Kill me, but I still remember the summer of 1997. “I Know What You Did Last Summer” came out sometime around that time, and exposed me, during my magical years in middle school, to the wonders of slasher films. The film and its sequel still evoke nostalgia in me to this day, despite being hard to consider a good movie. That’s thanks to another masked killer (generic as it may be), a charismatic and, above all, sexy cast (full disclosure: for years I had a crush on Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sarah Michelle Gellar), a particular “whodunit” mystery, humor and self-awareness, even if not on the level of the “Scream” films that revived slasher films a little earlier. In any case, these films remind me of the days when, in the absence of streaming services like Netflix, we would meet almost every Friday night, choose a movie from Blockbuster or the neighborhood movie machine, and sink into the horror accompanied by pizza and Coca-Cola.

Almost 30 years have passed, and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” is back. Since then, of course, a lot has changed in my life: I’ve grown up a few decades, started a family, studied cinema, watched thousands of horror films, and also founded the website you are reading right now, which should make my taste in horror movies more serious. Still, I was super excited about this new film, and I didn’t really know what to expect. Will cynicism and experience make me sneer at the revival of an already flawed franchise to make some money, or will I be excited to see the killer with the hook in his fisherman’s jacket again, enjoy stupid young people ending their lives, bathe my eyes in the young and attractive cast, and be happy to meet the legacy characters we grew up with again?

The good news is that “I Know What You Did Last Summer” can tick at least some of these boxes, and it’s certainly enjoyable to watch for the most part. The bad news is that the film contains flaws in almost every possible aspect, the expected refreshment of an old franchise is only partial, and the overall feeling is one of material fatigue. Check out the full review.

We’ve Been In This Accident Before (Or: What Is I Know What You Did Last Summer About)

If you’ve seen “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and its sequels and TV series, nothing in the first part of the film will surprise you. The plot once again takes place in the coastal town of Southport, which, in the decades since the events of the previous films, has tried to erase all traces of them to attract more and more tourists. In fact, the film here is a sequel to the sequel “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” from 1998, and ignores – and fortunately so – the horror “I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer”, which got directly on television screens in 2006.

The formula here is obvious. In the first film, as you remember, the plot dealt with a group of four dashing young people (played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe) who run over a man to death during a night drive and after a year begin to receive notes with the phrase “I know what you did last summer”. Then, they are murdered one by one, except for a few survivors who would make it to the sequel.

In the 2025 version of “I Know What You Did Last Summer” – and for the sake of God and Search Engine Optimization, why the hell don’t they diversify the names a bit in this franchise? – we get pretty much the same formula. We meet four characters who are very reminiscent – and a little too much – of those characters from the original film.

Jonah Haver King (“The Studio,” “Bodies Bodies Bodies”) steps into Jennifer Love Hewitt’s big bra as Ava Brooks, the tough brunette with morals, and also with a family tragedy that’s not really relevant to anything here. She returns in the opening scene to her hometown, which is of course Southport, North Carolina, for the engagement party of her friend Danica Richards (Madelyn Cline, “Outer Banks,” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” “The Map That Leads to You”), a beautiful, wealthy, and slightly spoiled blonde, which may remind you of on Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in the original film.

The two are joined by Eva’s ex (Jonah Hauer-King, “Doctor Who,” “The Little Mermaid” and recently on “The Threesome”) and Danica’s fiancé (Tyriq Withers from the remake of “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” and soon Jordan Peele’s “Him”), who are somewhat reminiscent of the characters of Freddie Prinze Jr. and Ryan Phillippe, respectively. There is also another outcast and a bit of a weird girl from the past (Sarah Pidgeon, “The Wilds,” “Tiny Beautiful Things”), with a complicated history.

The guys cause a car accident because one of them was being dumb, and they decide not to call the police, never talk about it, blah, blah, blah. As a regular person, this choice seemed puzzling to me given the circumstances of this accident. I do not investigate car accidents, but in my opinion, with a bit of wisdom, the guys could have gotten out of this case relatively easily without destroying their lives, and without the need for vows like “we will never talk about what happened,” etc., etc.

In any case, a year passes, and Danica is about to get married again, this time to a different man, because her previous fiancé went a little crazy and moved away. Then, among all the gifts, she receives a note with the inscription “I know what you did last summer,” and all the fun begins again, because someone in a fisherman’s jacket with a fishhook begins to chase out people, killing uninteresting supporting characters and later getting closer to the heroes, until the final confrontations that will define who will survive here until the sequel, if there is going to be another one.

Here is the trailer:

The Cast: Promising Names, Some Legacy Characters, And A Few Surprises

At a certain point, much to the joy of those who grew up on the original film, we get to see some of the legacy characters of the franchise. As in the case of other films that have introduced a second or even third generation to some scary events – for example, “Scream” starting with the fifth film, the last and unnecessary sequels of “Halloween” or even the excellent “Final Destination: Bloodlines“, which managed to excite with Tony Todd’s final appearance on screen – at a certain point the young people turn to those who have already experienced events to get advice and give the viewer a measure of nostalgia.

As we learned in the massive promotion of the film, we get a comeback here from Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Since the 1997 Southport Massacre, Julie has become a university professor specializing in the nervous system or something, which means that – for a change and unlike the second film in the franchise – she doesn’t walk around half-naked in every scene. The second character is Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr.), a bar manager and the boss of one of the characters, who was the least interesting character in the original film.

There are also guest appearances by two beloved characters from previous films, one in a dream scene (meaning it can be someone who died. No spoilers) and the other in the end credits, with at least one of which I was surprised. The film introduces several other supporting characters, including a lesbian murder mystery podcaster, one of the characters’ fathers, a coworker, a priest, a sheriff, and others. Most of them are suspects for a few minutes, or die, or remain suspects until their deaths separate them from the list of suspects.

The main problem is that most of the characters fail to make an impact. The leading actresses, especially Madelyn Cline and Chase Sui Wonders, look great, of course. They actually try and succeed in occasionally combining emotion and a touch of humor, even though the script doesn’t do them any favors in the dialogue between them and in the decisions their characters make.

The Search For Interesting Characters

While these female characters had some depth – and I don’t just mean the cleavage, which is mainly the focus of the first part of the film – the male characters seemed to me too one-dimensional and flat. At one point, I attempted to differentiate them, primarily based on their names, haircuts, or the amount of muscle. In other instances, I found myself struggling to distinguish them from the actors from the first film.

Freddie Prinze Jr. and Ryan Phillippe aren’t the best actors we’ve seen in decades, but at least they had charisma, and there was chemistry between the main characters in that film. The chemistry here is almost nonexistent, to the point where you struggle to understand what they’re doing in the same group, and why Danica would want to marry these random men surrounding her. Hell, at one point I tried to check if the format here was even “Married at First Sight” (the engagement party with some man at the beginning of the film) or “Married at Second Sight” (the bachelorette party leading up to the wedding with another man, a year later), with minimal chemistry like of the couple horror stories we can see on reality screen these days.

For me, it was very refreshing to see Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. make a comeback to horror cinema. Both are, of course, aware of their age, and their physical appearance is accordingly: Love Hewitt, as mentioned, in more representative clothes than the cleavage we are used to seeing, and Prince Jr. with a stubble full of gray hair and a sullen look. Their performance was more reasonable (Love Hewitt) or less (Prince Jr.), even if some would say that at times it was tired or lacking in energy, whether through their fault or as a result of the script.

What was missing, for example, was the sparkle in the eyes that we saw in that magical scene of Tony Todd in his last moments, the added value that we received from some of the characters who came back to our lives in the recent “Scream” films. The other two legacy characters, particularly the one who appears in the film’s plot but not in the credits, managed to put some wind in the sails, despite their minimal screen time.

Why So Serious?

We know the director and one of the screenwriters, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, mainly from lovable comedies like “Do Revenge” and “Unpregnant,” which dealt with social issues such as the distribution of intimate videos, the struggle between the sexes, and dealing with unwanted pregnancy. Of course, “I Know What You Did Last Summer” also explores themes that were already central to the previous films – guilt, trauma, and the desire to move on as if nothing had happened – with a clear answer about the chances of success.

Of course, there were also differences between classes (rich versus poorer) and generations, themes that also recur in the current film. In the best tradition, the film refers to the differences between the periods or the reflexive status of the film’s plot within the characters’ inner world, such as technological advances that show that almost three decades have passed since the first film (mainly through the very wasted supporting character of the podcaster, who also sells Helen Shivers merchandise in the online store on ETSY). This type of theme could have been used more cleverly, as seen in slasher films that combine time loops or time travel. There were reflexive references here and there (say, Julie James screams at the killer, “What are you waiting for?”, to mark THAT iconic scene), and this aspect could also have been improved in terms of quantity, and especially quality.

Some issues that are thrown out into the plot and not addressed, such as a death in one character’s family or another’s bisexual relationship, which the script uses to introduce a character into the plot through the closet, who could have been brought in through a thousand other doors. There was humor at times, as the film got funnier than scary at times. However, it could have been more comical considering that the director and some actors do show a sense of comedy in very few moments throughout the film. Yes, also more entertaining meta references, because after all, almost thirty years have passed, and in any case, it’s hard to take this franchise too seriously.

The Killings Of I Know What You Did Last Summer: More Blood, Less Creativity

Ultimately, “I Know What You Did Last Summer” feels too routine and unfortunately doesn’t go all the way. So it’s true that it’s a little more violent than we remembered from the nineties, but it’s hard to say that there’s a scene here that we’ll really remember in a few months – unlike, by the way, several scenes in the first film and its sequel. Some scenes felt too standard, including the directing, writing, and editing, which seemed unfocused at times.

The kills are mostly predictable and lackluster, the horror is mainly based on jump scares, and you are not expected to feel scared while watching. It is difficult to argue that the film innovates anything within the slasher world or in relation to the original, mainly because it fails to connect the dots and does not dare to be refreshing or original enough. While it stands on its own because there are new characters and a new mystery, a large part of its pleasure is in the nostalgia.

Like many slashers from recent years, the film pretty much collapses into its own universe in the last third, where we discover the identity of the killer or killers, their connection to what happened at the beginning of the film, the connections between the characters from the past and the present, and so on. Although I accepted the twists that the film offers with relative peace of mind, because it could always be worse, it is understandable that horror fans would argue that the script has more holes than a fishing net.

Should You Watch I Know What You Did Last Summer?

“I Know What You Did Last Summer” concludes with a scene that hints at a potential sequel, and a brief scene during the credits suggests another sequel possibility, this time featuring different characters. It is very possible that the producers were hoping to gauge the film’s buzz to determine the franchise’s future direction. The reviews for the remake are pretty negative, and its success is reasonable but not hysterical: about $64 million worldwide as of this writing, a high amount compared to the sequel “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” but almost half as low as the film that opened the franchise.

Of all these, my opinions on “I Know What You Did Last Summer” are pretty divided. The film is mediocre at best, and pretty bad according to most critics and viewers who survived the screening with me, and its touch on past material is only partially successful. Still, there are some beloved actors here who have returned to our favorite genre, a young and attractive cast (at least visually), lots of murders (however routine), a mystery (with a somewhat annoying twist), and another film that shows that slashers continue to make a comeback. I would be more than happy if next summer we see the fisherman – whoever he is this time – return to kill. Maybe this time the result will be better.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) – Frequently Asked Questions

Who directed I Know What You Did Last Summer?

The film was directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who previously wrote “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Unpregnant”, and wrote and directed “Do Revenge”.

Who plays in I Know What You Did Last Summer?

The cast includes fresh faces, such as Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, and Sarah Pidgeon. A few legacy characters return to the franchise, including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., and two more names we won’t spoil.

Who wrote I Know What You Did Last Summer?

Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson wrote the script of the film, alongside Sam Lansky (“I Wish You All the Best”), based on a story by Robinson and Leah McKendrick (“M.F.A.”, “Scrambled”).

How long is I Know What You Did Last Summer?

The runtime of the film is about 111 minutes. Don’t miss the credit scene.

When was the film produced?

In the United States, Australia, and Canada.

What languages can you hear in the film?

English, with some notes and a “What are you waiting for?” scene.

When was I Know What You Did Last Summer released?

The official release date of the film, in the United States, was July 18, 2025. A few days earlier, it was screened at the United Theater on Broadway.

What was the budget of I Know What You Did Last Summer?

According to reports, the budget of the film was about $18 million.

How much did the movie gross?

I Know What You Did Last Summer made about $65 million at the box office, according to Box Office Mojo.

What do the reviews say about I Know What You Did Last Summer?

The reviews of the film are average, with a 5.2 rating on IMDB, the biggest online movie database. On Rotten Tomatoes, about 36% of the critics gave it a positive review (“Tomatometer”).

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Save