Freakier Friday: An Unexpected, but Quality Sequel

 


I definitely thought that Freakier Friday was a sequel we'd never get and/or need. 2003's Freaky Friday is a very good movie that holds up well. However, I found Freakier Friday to be a pleasant surprise.

Freakier Friday takes place over 20 years after Freaky Friday, when mother/daughter Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Anna (Lindsay Lohan) swapped bodies and had to learn a lot about one another and make selfless decisions before being put back in their correct bodies. This time around, there's even more body swapping involving Anna's daughter Harper (Julia Butters) and future stepdaughter Lily (Sophia Hammons). As you'd expect from this fantastical comedy, a lot of humor and shenanigans ensue. 

The cast of Freakier Friday is strong all around, and Lohan and Curtis step back into the body swap comedy with ease. Curtis, in particular, is the standout of the movie. There are plenty of references, homages and storyline continuations to make fans of Freaky Friday happy, but it's not a requirement to be familiar with the first film to enjoy the new one. I will say that not all of the humor lands, and the movie feels a bit fast-paced, but these issues are mostly confined to the first half of the narrative. The situations the characters are put in and the lessons they learn are pretty similar to Freaky Friday, but I believe there is enough nuance for Freakier Friday to be its own thing. Even with it being a sequel.

Simply put, Freakier Friday was better than I thought it would be. I'm confident you'll laugh a lot, like the new and returning characters and be able to empathize with them. Perhaps you'll watch this movie years from now, just as you would the original. Freakier Friday is not as good as Freaky Friday, but it's still enjoyable. With 2025 full of sequels, reboots, spinoffs, etc., who knew that Freakier Friday would be one of the better ones to come out this year?

Rating:

Green Light

 This is a movie to see in theaters

Freakier Friday   111 minutes    PG    In theaters

My 2025 Top Movies: The Ballad of Wallis Island, F1 and Not Just a Goof


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