On August 7, cinemas began to release the comedy film Freakier Friday, a sequel to the 2003 hit comedy Freaky Friday, which was based on the novel of the same name by American writer Mary Rogers. If you recall, there was an exchange of bodies of a mother and daughter performed by Jamie Lee Curtis and a very young Lindsay Lohan, respectively. Both return to their roles along with several other actors from the original, including Mark Harmon and Chad Michael Murray. Read the review below to find out who will switch bodies this time and how much fun it will be to watch.
Pluses:
many characters from the original film, including Jamie Lee Curtis, who sparkles on the screen again; there are moderately funny episodes; nostalgic references to the first film; some will be touched by the final sentimentality;
Minuses:
chaotic fast-paced editing, which seems to be designed for a younger generation of viewers; the film could use a stronger concentration of humor; the presence of absolutely useless characters played by Chad Michael Murray or Maithreya Ramakrishnan;
“Freakier Friday”
Genre family comedy
Director Ganatra’s niche
Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Chad Michael Murray, Mark Harmon, Julia Butters, Sophia Gammons, Elaine Hendricks, Rosalind Chao, Stephen Tobolowsky
Premiere movie theaters
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb, official website
A lot of water has passed since the young rebel rocker Anna Coleman switched bodies with her mother, the psychotherapist Tess. And now, 22 years after learning a life lesson from the owner of a Chinese restaurant, the characters face new challenges. Now Anna is raising her teenage daughter Harper on her own and is about to marry a wonderful guy, Eric, who came to Los Angeles from London with his daughter Lily.
The problem is that Harper doesn’t get along with his future half-sister and doesn’t want to move to the capital of England, where there’s not even a place to surf before school (not in the Thames, after all). Against the backdrop of endless conflicts with girls — some for the first time and some not, — a magical body swap occurs. Harper is transferred into her mother’s body and vice versa, and young Lily will have to lament her crunchy joints while her grandmother enjoys the benefits of youth again.
It seems that the comedy genre is showing signs of life, and this is good news. Along with endless horror, after “The Naked Gun”, we have a reason to laugh for the second week in a row. Yes, the filmmakers don’t come up with original ideas and rely on old, win-win situations — the creators of the Liam Neeson parody are inspired by the classic genre from the tube 80s, and Freakier Friday is inspired by a popular comedy from the 2000s. But better this way than that.
Now we can definitely talk about a full-fledged comeback to the big screen for Lindsay Lohan, who, after a fantastic start in cinema at a very young age, actually lost her promising career due to her scandalous lifestyle. In between arrests and rehab centers, the actress even managed to star in the low-budget thriller The Canyons (2013), where her partner on the set was porn actor James Dean.
Actually, there was a reason to talk about Logan’s return to the series back in 2022, when the Christmas romance Falling for Christmas was released on Netflix. Last year, two films with her in them premiered on the same streaming service, Irish Wish and Our Little Secret. The important factor was not the quality of these generally passable romantic comedies, but the stability of Lindsay’s screen appearances, which showed that she had finally restored her reputation and plunged into work.
Then, in 2024, the actress did not hesitate to make a cameo in Mean Girls, a new version of another 2000s comedy hit where the young star shone. But Freakier Friday is already one of the main roles in a project intended for wide release, so welcome back, Ms. Lohan.
As for the sequel itself, things are not so rosy. No, I can’t call it bad. But Freakier Friday seems rather tiresome. The problem is not that the film is inferior to the famous original in all respects. It’s just that the creators cowardly and somewhat clumsily copy it, raising the stakes a bit and adding cheater nostalgia. Again, the events take place on the eve of the wedding. Once again, Chad Michael Murray’s character is used purely as attractive furniture (this time it’s an even more humiliating role). Once again, Lindsay Lohan is embarrassed on stage, playing the guitar awkwardly.
What is not surprising at all, but quite logical within the genre, is that the local narrative structure has not changed. At the beginning, the bad girls hate each other, then find themselves in the shoes of their neighbors and, after passing a series of tests, reassess the most important things. Love and harmony win out. Curtain.
From the editing point of view, this movie is a complete chaos and nightmare. There is a clear attempt to please the fans of the original and at the same time the TikTok generation. For the former, there is the aforementioned nostalgia, for the latter, the young heroines Julia Butters and Sophia Hammons, as well as a bunch of disparate scenes. This approach will not come as a surprise to the accustomed eye of the zoomers, when the brisk editing rapidly changes colorful and sometimes funny episodes one after another. But old-fogies like the author of these lines may have problems.
At times, Freakier Friday manages to bring a smile to your face, such as the moment with the disastrous flirtation. But for the most part, it’s a clumsy, low-energy comedy whose creators seem to have not decided what else can be extracted from a worn-out concept. The on-screen fuss is reinforced by a good dose of sentimentality in the ending and the obligatory “let’s live together” moral. Perhaps this is the kind of content you need right now, so go to the movies.
Still, the sequel doesn’t work as a whole, rather than vice versa. The narrative is decidedly lacking the rock ‘n’ roll fervor of the original. It lacks those moments when Jamie Lee Curtis suddenly grabs the guitar and plays a powerful solo.
By the way, it is very noticeable that the former “Queen of the Scream” is again literally having a blast on set and the actress is definitely one of the best things that has happened to this series. Lindsay Logan’s performance is also good, but the younger generation will only remember her among their target audience. It is not clear why the character of Maithreya Ramakrishnan exists in the movie.
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