I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) | Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson // Starring Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Freddie Prinze Jr.
Summary (Spoiler-free): Years after a tragic accident, a new group of young friends in Southport, North Carolina find themselves stalked by a familiar hook-wielding killer. Secrets unravel and the sins of the past refuse to stay buried.
There’s a moment near the end of this legacy sequel where a character deadpans, “Nostalgia is overrated.” And if you want a summary of this entire film in one line, there it is.
Let me be clear: I love the original I Know What You Did Last Summer. It's messy, melodramatic, and drenched in '90s angst and rain-soaked sweaters. It had a mood. It had Jennifer Love Hewitt screaming at the sky. And while it’s never reached Scream-level icon status, it carved out a lane of its own, one that's weirdly charming and just self-serious enough.
But when they announced a legacy sequel with the original stars returning? I rolled my eyes but I hoped for the best. What we got is a movie that can’t decide if it wants to respect its roots or mock them.
Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. do their best to give this movie weight, and honestly, they’re the best part. There's a moment where Ray warns someone not to take a boat to the Bahamas, and it’s the kind of meta callback that actually works. But most of the “legacy” elements feel desperate, not clever. There’s even a post-credit scene trying to tease some shared universe nonsense like this is Fisherman: Endgame. No thank you.
I admire director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s passion. You can tell she loves the original. But this movie is trying to serve too many masters: fans of the old stuff, young viewers who barely know the franchise, and studio execs who see horror IP as cash cows. The result is a confused, hollow slasher that’s neither scary nor particularly fun.
The premise is identical to the 1997 original (with some light gentrification): A group of hot twenty-somethings (Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon) hit someone with their car, cover it up, and surprise!! They’re stalked a year later by a hook-wielding fisherman who apparently shops at the same raincoat store as their predecessor. There are attempts to tie in broader themes: trauma, class division, real estate corruption (?!?!?!)... but the movie never commits to anything beyond half-baked ideas and stilted Gen Z dialogue.
And the kills? The reason we’re here? Off-screen. Rushed. Toothless. There’s no sense of dread, no tension, and certainly no innovation in how anyone gets slashed. Even the hook feels like an afterthought, like they’re afraid to get too bloody in an R-rated horror film. One death lingers, maybe. The rest are just noise.
It’s not the worst horror reboot I’ve seen, but it might be the most unnecessary.
I'm overly particular when it comes to horror films, so this one had an uphill battle at the start, but the end results is a few fun nods, a game cast, and some decent ideas buried under too much studio interference and not enough blood. Nostalgia may be overrated, but if you’re going to resurrect a franchise, you need to bring more than just the raincoat.
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