I Know What You Did Last Summer Review: A glossy comeback that’s better than expected, but only just
I Know What You Did Last Summer is slick, occasionally self-aware, and made by people who get what made the original tick—even if they can’t quite replicate it
I Know What You Did Last Summer movie review
Cast: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr, Lola Tung, Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline
Director: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Rating: ★★★
The fisherman’s hook is back in action. In a slick new update of the familiar teen-slasher template, I Know What You Did Last Summer returns—not as a remake, not quite a reboot, but more like a high-gloss group therapy session for characters and fans alike. Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and featuring the return of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., this legacy sequel attempts to mix generational guilt with Gen Z aesthetics. It's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but it’s surprisingly watchable.
In short: a group of privileged twenty-somethings makes one very bad decision on a night out, covers it up, and a year later, someone starts making them pay—one murder at a time. You know the drill. But this time, there's a new generation of victims, a suspiciously familiar-looking hook, and just enough moody lighting to suggest that someone took this seriously.
The good
Jennifer Kaytin clearly has a love for the genre, and it shows in the film’s confident production design and tone. Everything looks gorgeously overlit in that cinematic way that screams “studio horror,” and for once, the killer isn’t skulking around in a murky filter that resembles a broken phone screen. It feels like a proper movie. Jennifer Love Hewitt returns as Julie James, now a professor reluctantly dragged back to her coastal hometown of Southport when tragedy rears its bloody head again. She’s not given a reinvention as much as a light reintroduction—but a reunion scene with Freddie Prinze Jr. (as Ray Bronson) lands with surprising emotional weight, even if their characters were barely more than plot pawns in the past.
Among the new cast, Bodies Bodies Bodies breakout star Chase Sui Wonders plays Ava, the guarded best friend type with unresolved feelings. Glass Onion star Madelyn Cline plays Danica, the wealthy, self-absorbed bride-to-be whose party sets everything off. Sarah Pidgeon brings both grit and heart as Stevie, a former friend turned outsider with a grudge and a conscience. Rounding out the group is Tyriq Withers as Teddy, Danica’s fiancé, who somehow manages to make “shirtless finance bro” oddly sympathetic. Their performances are better than the material demands, with some moments of genuine spark. In particular, Sarah makes a case for why she should be cast in everything for the next decade.
The bad
What this film lacks is any real sense of danger. The kills are bloody, yes, but tension? Suspense? Not so much. Even the big finale unfolds in bright daylight, which, unless you’re being chased by a goose, tends to kill the mood. The script also trips over itself in trying to subvert expectations. In trying to outsmart the audience, it ends up undermining its own logic. The central accident—reimagined from the original—is supposed to be traumatic enough to explain the group’s silence. Instead, it plays like a plot device that someone forgot to justify. You’re left wondering why these people didn’t just… tell someone.
And for a film that flirts with humour, it never commits to it. The jokes land somewhere between eye-roll and almost-funny, leaning too heavily on L.A.-lite satire. There’s nothing offensively bad, but nothing particularly memorable either—unless you count the surprise dream sequence cameo and a mid-credits scene that’s pure fan-fiction fever dream.
The verdict
This new I Know What You Did Last Summer isn’t trying to reinvent horror. It knows what it is: a glossy, mildly self-aware slasher flick with just enough nostalgia and blood to get by. It’s not scary enough to haunt you, but not stupid enough to turn off either. If you're here for smart reinvention, look elsewhere. But if you want a murder mystery with great hair, average dialogue, and a killer with branding consistency, well—you know what you’re watching. There may not be another summer after this, but as far as last hurrahs go, this one’s bloody entertaining.
