This review contains spoilers, so be sure to watch the film before reading!

Head back to the coastal town of Southport, where it seems like deja vu as events of 1997 seem to be happening all over again, this time with a new generation of young people hiding how interesting their summer was, and a nosy Fisherman who is determined to know.

Back with another I Know What You Did Last Summer installment, this franchise has never really started or stopped, as I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) was in the post-Scream (1996) boom of the 90s. It spawned sequels: I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006), a straight-to-DVD movie, and I Know What You Did Last Summer (2021), a series that only lasted one season.

The sense that this horror franchise, based on the 1973 novel by Lois Duncan, has been middling becomes this film’s greatest strength as Screenwriter Jennifer Kaytin Robinson honors what has come before, but most importantly, doesn’t use it as a crutch, instead taking unexpected decisions regarding how legacy characters are used.

The plot is similar to its 1997 predecessor, with Ava (Chase Sui Wonders) and her friends during one 4th of July summer, who cause a traffic accident and make a pact to cover up what happened.

Where Robinson makes the bold move is concerning returning Ray (Freddie Prince Jr), who is revealed as one of the Fisherman killers. Using a Scream-type reveal, I know straight away you might think that’s lazy. Of course, he becomes one of the killers due to his trauma. For me, it works in the context of film because Ray explains that everyone in Southport has forgotten about 1997, the town has been gentrified, and everyone moved on except for him. Ray is morphed into this embodiment of the 1997 films’ anger of being forgotten–it came out during the post-Scream boom, where that became a more successful franchise, whereas this never found its start. Robinson creates a dichotomy of a legacy character from a legacy that never really cemented itself, which is a really interesting meta homage to the original film.

However, I do understand why the reveal might not work for audiences. I could imagine reactions of shock, and if you loved that character from the original, it might feel like a kick in the teeth.

As said, the film doesn’t use the past as a crutch. Whenever there are callbacks to the original, the film doesn’t feel the need to over-focus. A good example is a fun callback to the parade float that Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) was on during the Southport parade.

In regards to our legacy characters, I like Freddie Prince Jr as the villain, as he has always been a heartthrob–think Scooby-Doo (2002) or She’s All That (1999). To see him go to a new place full of bitterness and anger was fun. Also returning to Southport is

 Jennifer Love Hewitt as Julie. Now a professor on trauma, when Ava tells her what is happening again, it is to almost as if she can’t be bothered.

Along with some original faces, the new cast of ‘Friends’ carries the story, bringing more well-done self-centered performances. The group does understand that they are all playing these friends who have this falsehood that they are decent, but the crash showed what was already there in all of them.

Madelyn Cline as Danna, who only cares about a relationship if it fits into her life of luxury; Teddy Spencer (Tyriq Withers) is an entitled daddy’s boy who never faces the consequences, and, of course, refers to everyone as bro; Jonah Hauer-King as Milo, who likes to think he not entitled but still happily think about his optics before anyone else; and Chase Sui Wonders as Ava and Sarah Pidgeon as Stevie who both think they are morally better but both didn’t do anything to help Wyatt (Justin Orphin). 

In this new installment of I Know What You Did Last Summer, Robinson asks the question, What is a legacy character if there wasn’t a legacy in the first place? To some, the major change to an important original character may be disrespectful to the original story. For me, the change creates a strong commentary on the overall legacy of the 1997 horror.

Review Courtesy of Matthew Allan

Feature Image Credit to Sony via IMDb