3.5 out of 5 body-swaps (Above Average)
The 2003 Freaky Friday is one of my favorite comedies. It’s the kind of family movie that works equally well for kids and adults and has a near-perfect mixture of clever gags, wacky antics, and sentimentality. 2025 now brings us Freakier Friday, a legacy sequel that reunites most of the original cast in one way or another and, as all good sequels do, advances the characters and provides enough new jokes and scenarios while maintaining most of what we loved about the first movie.
Freakier Friday | Official Trailer | In Theaters August 8
Anna Coleman (Lindsay Lohan) is a single mom and rock producer raising her brazen teenager daughter Harper (Julia Butters). Her mother Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) is well-meaningly over-stepping her role as a grandmother, but otherwise their relationship is solid. That changes when Anna gets hit by Cupid’s arrow upon bumping into the sexy British man Eric (Manny Jacinto), and the two plan to wed some time later. The trouble is, Eric’s daughter Lily (Sophia Hammons) is Harper’s mortal nemesis and the claws are out. However, things get freaky when a palm reading leads Anna to switch bodies with Harper and Tess to switch with Lily, forcing everyone to pass as each other until they can switch back. Whie the daughters scheme to bust the impending union, everyone will soon learn the value of family in unexpected (and comedic) places.
As with every comedy sequel ever made, Freakier Friday isn’t the classic its forebearer is. That said, it’s still a worthy follow-up. The 1st act is a little shaky and there are some cringe lines attempting to connect with the modern youth that I wish Hollywood writers would stop putting into movies, but it kicks into gear once the body switch happens. Curtis and Lohan are as fantastic as ever, with the former especially throwing herself into the gags 1000%. Jacinto’s a charming and welcome addition who I could see as a romcom leading man and Hammons and Butters surprised me with how well each played their body-swapped counterparts.
Director Nisha Ganatra takes over from original film helmer Mark Waters here and brings a different vibe to the proceedings, but still handles the comedy and sentiment well. The daughters’ annoying attitudes are laid on too thick at the beginning to the point I wasn’t sure I would like either of them, but they improve as it goes on and it works to the film’s underlying family theme. I also appreciate the film for aiming more at my generation than the kids of today with its story and humor (particularly with funny old age jokes), so while I can’t say your 8-year-old will love this (and there are some gags you probably don’t want to explain to them), as an adult who was a kid when the first one came out, I was laughing and smiling consistently, and that’s the best I can ask for in a comedy. While it doesn’t reach the classic level of its predecessor, Freakier Friday is a fun, funny, and worthy sequel that shows old franchises can still rock out. See it if you’re a fan.
Rated PG for Thematic Elements, Rude Humor, Language, and Some Suggestive References