The 2003 remake of Mary Rodger’s 1972 YA novel Freaky Friday was an unparalleled success. How does its new 2025 sequel fare?
At the time, the early aughts Mark Waters-directed film got good reviews, made a killing at the box office, and even nabbed awards nominations for stars Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis. Aside from some unfortunate (even for the times) racism, it’s an enjoyable Disney comedy with broad-appeal.
Flash forward twenty-two years and we have Freakier Friday, which reunites Curtis and Lohan, while introducing a brand new generation to the Coleman family. In the new film, directed by Nisha Ganatra and written by Jordan Weiss (from a story by Weiss and Elyse Hollander), music producer Anna (Lohan) is now a single mother with her own teen daughter, Harper (Julia Butters). Therapist Tess (Curtis) remains an ever-present fixture in their lives, often undermining Anna’s parenting in an attempt to be “cool grams.”
The plot kicks in after Harper’s latest spat with her rival, a British import student named Lily Davies (Sophia Hammons). A parent/teacher interview with the parents produces sparks between Anna and Lily’s father, Eric (a game Manny Jacinto). Six months pass via a quick relationship montage, ending with a wedding engagement before the action picks up three days before the nuptials.
Naturally at the bachelorette party, the simmering tension and resentment boils over, resulting in another ill-timed body swap. Only this time the hijinks don’t just involve Anna and Tess; they also include Harper and Lily.
Just like the original film (as well as the 1976 original featuring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster), the fun of these kinds of films is watching the actors embody the traits of another character. This is especially true of Curtis and Lohan, who – by channelling their teen counterparts – essentially run away with the film.
Sure, Hammons and Butters get some fun moments as they play up the amazement of an older generation (re)discovering the appeal of youthful bodies that don’t protest, break, or gain weight. But Freakier Friday understands its audience and who they want to see, so Curtis and Lohan get all of the good bits.
Arguably one of Weiss’ biggest challenges with the screenplay is balancing so many body swaps. On the plus side, however, unlike the first film where they spent the majority of the film apart, here Curtis and Lohan have nearly all of their scenes together. This is an excellent creative decision because the chemistry between the pair remains as enjoyable as ever, even when the jokes prove more chuckle-worthy than guffaw.
A lot of the jokes are simply too simple, particularly the ones involving the younger bodies. They essentially boil down to: these bodies don’t ache! If you fall, you don’t need physio! You can consume as many calories as you want!
By comparison, there are some pretty amusing jokes about what “young people” think “old people” are like, including several that are music based (what music do old people listen to? Coldplay. What do old people sit around and talk about? John Mayer). It’s funny, in large part, because these answers directly target the audience who made the original film a hit back in 2003*
*And surely those people can’t be old! <stares at self in the mirror and utters JLC’s infamous line “ugh, I’m like the crypt keeper!”>
The long overdue sequel also brings back most of its original cast, including brief cameos from Anna’s brother Harry (Ryan Malgarini), Tess’ husband Ryan (Mark Harmon), Anna’s old Pinkslip bandmates Maddie (Christina Vidal) and Peg (Haley Hudson), as well as Pei-Pei (Rosalind Chao) and her mother (Lucille Soong) the restaurant owners who caused the original switch. The casting of Jacinto, who is legitimately good as Anna’s betrothed, also feels like a not-so-secret attempt to course correct the racism of the first film (progress!)
The other noteworthy return is Jake (Chad Michael Murray), Anna’s love-interest who developed a misguided crush on Tess. This could have felt awkward and shoe-horned in, but the small part is incorporated organically and provides a solid joke in the denouement. Ganatra and cinematographer Matthew Clark also understand that 75% of the character’s appeal are Murray’s good looks and wisely shoot his introduction on a motorcycle with a slow motion hair flip.
Of the new characters, the best addition is Vanessa Bayer as quirky fortune teller Madame Jen. The SNL vet knows exactly how to come in, steal a scene, and get out. The comedienne packs a punch in only a few brief scenes; she’s particularly adept at selling the “multi-hyphenate” business enterprises that Madame Jen engages in, which range from Reiki to Starbucks employee to selling actual business cards.
If Freakier Friday struggles to adequately balance its larger cast the second time around, it also suffers for lifting beat for beat the climax of the 2003 film. Just like the first go around, the big emotional revelation coincides with the eve of the wedding at a significant public musical performance. Here it is the sold-out concert of Anna’s client, Ella (Never Have I Ever‘s
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) as the wrong person once again is forced to appear on stage and mimic performing.
Other (smaller) callbacks to events and jokes from the first film are more successful, though overall Freakier Friday is a much slighter film – both in terms of jokes and plot developments. Despite being a little too familiar, though, the new film does nail its emotional components, offering up an obvious, but satisfying resolution. Credit where credit is due: both of the contemporary Friday films understand that the life lessons and relationship catharsis are absolutely integral to the success of a body swap movie.
Overall Freakier Friday is a solid follow-up. It allows Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan to reunite and have a blast (they’re both legitimately delightful and it’s very exciting to see Lohan, in particular, back in top form). Freakier Friday may not be an essential sequel, but it is a good time for fans of the 2003 original. 3/5
Freakier Friday is out in theatres Aug 8.
Leave a Reply