I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)

½ star
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson's I Know What You Did Last Summer was coasting along at a slow but inoffensive pace until its ghastly third act, which infuriated me with its total disrespect not just for the first movie from 1997 but for its contempt for a strong male character who needed to be destroyed in the director's eyes. I liked the callbacks to the original and placing this movie in the same universe in which the Julie James ordeal occurred, but I hated the turn of events that led to the identification of the killer. Jim Gillespie's original wasn't without its faults, but it was a slick and thrilling ride. It was a good complement to Scream (1996), which is not surprising considering that both were written by Kevin Williamson. Robinson's version starts out as plug-and-play in a modern setting, but her twist is short-sighted and serves only to give a momentary shock to legacy fans who don't bother to think about the implications of orchestrating such a heel turn.

I use a professional wrestling analogy because Freddie Prinze, Jr. once wrote for W.W.E., so he should be familiar with the custom of protecting one's character. He should have applied that thinking to his own character. He agreed to do this movie and return as a killing spree survivor from long ago who finds his seaside town under siege from another killer armed with a hook, so he holds some of the blame for what happens here. Nearly 30 years after the events that shook Southport, North Carolina, another accident leads to the death of a local and a pact among those responsible never to discuss it with anyone. One year later, Danica (Madelyn Cline) celebrates her engagement to Wyatt (Joshua Orpin). She was part of the pact, and while she's opening gifts, she comes across a letter with the ominous title written inside. Those words pack a punch. We know what happened, and the participants know what happened. The events that follow are staged reasonably well. There are good scares and satisfying nods to the original alongside modern touches like podcaster Tyler (Gabbriette Bechtel), who is in town to cover the 1997 murders for her show.

After one member of the group is dispatched early, Ava (Chase Sui Wonders), one of the participants of the pact, takes point to uncover the identity of the killer, who dresses like the original fisherman wearing a trench coat and wields a hook. The body count rises while the movie rehashes Jaws with town elitists that want to protect the tourist industry. I wouldn't have minded the call back if, like any work inspired by a classic, director Robinson had used the old premise to springboard into new and exciting directions instead of giving us the teardown that occurs late in the movie. Even before that, there is the absurd revelation that local politician Grant Spencer (Billy Campbell) covered up the past crimes and scrubbed them from the internet to draw in tourists. I can believe such a massive coverup would work in more innocent times. 2003's Freddy vs. Jason featured a similar scheme, but I don't buy it in 2025, especially when there's a podcaster in town who apparently had no problem digging up the town's dirt.

Jennifer Love Hewitt is back as Julie James, who has moved on from the horrible events featured in the 1997 original and the 1998 sequel. I did not follow this movie's production at all. I became aware of it only a few weeks before its debut. Seeing Hewitt was a surprise, and I'll give credit where credit is due for the decision to place this movie in the same timeline. Hewitt and Prinze, two '90s mainstays, appearing on screen together again just felt right. It was a shame the movie couldn't give them the reunion they deserved. After the mystery is uncovered and the fisherman's identity is revealed, I felt angry. It's a cheap stunt. It's contemptuous. The villain reveal is a staple for the slasher genre, which is already at a disadvantage because of the simplistic premise and reputation brought about by countless titles from the '80s. If done well, it can be satisfying and lift a movie above the haze. Mrs. Voorhees's exit from her Jeep in Friday the 13th is how you do it. It made sense. I'm not the biggest fan of that movie, but the third act was absolutely smashing.

I Know What You Did Last Summer gets it wrong. A development like this asks us to believe a well-known long-time resident who displays no symptoms of trauma would suddenly commit murder to remind Southport of its past. That's not good enough. At least Mrs. Voorhees believed she was channeling her dead son and committing acts at his request. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is all too willing to toss aside common sense if it means setting up a swerve (another wrestling term) for a momentary surprise. Unfortunately, this movie didn't think it through well enough. The first and second acts are fine. There's atmosphere. There's some light humor. There's a neat cameo by a deceased character. Forget all the good stuff, though. Just dump it all into the trash and kick the can down the hill. The allure of a legacy sequel was too tempting to make to spend any time pondering the ridiculous killer reveal.

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