I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) is directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who also wrote the screenplay alongside Sam Lansky and Leah McKendrick. It stars Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Billy Campbell, Gabriette Bechtel, Austin Nichols, Nick Farnell, Joshua Orpin, Georgia Flood, Nick Hardcastle, Simone Annan, Isaiah Mustafa, and Sarah Michelle Gellar. This ‘requel’ to the 1997 slasher classic follows recent high school graduate Ava Brucks (Wonders) and her four friends after they inadvertently cause the death of an unidentified stranger. They agree to keep their involvement a secret and proceed to go their separate ways. One year later, Ava reluctantly returns from college and reunites with her old friends, but the group’s fun is soon spoiled when one of them receives a mysterious letter containing the message “I know what you did last summer.” This soon brings the arrival of a hook-wielding maniac wearing a fisherman’s slicker, who seemingly intends to punish the friends for their dark secret. Seeing similarities to another killing spree that took place in the same town in 1997, Ava and her friends decide to track down its survivors—College professor Julie James (Hewitt) and local bar owner, Ray Bronson (Prinze Jr.). Together, they set out to uncover the killer’s identity before they all become fish food. 

Although the young cast proves to be highly talented, they’re handcuffed to a script that treats their roles as nothing more than annoying, Gen Z versions of the legacy characters. This quickly establishes certain expectations about who will live and who will die, which the script then subverts in a deliciously unexpected way. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do this often enough to make up for the fact that such similar characterizations frequently cause the film to feel like more of the same. 

The awkward dialogue throughout can only be described as, at best, cringeworthy. This is because the script delivers most of its exposition through dialogue that repeatedly beats the viewer over the head with the same information. It’s so egregious that there are multiple instances in which the audience is told the same information three times in a row by three different characters, as if the writers assumed more than half the audience would most likely be staring at their phones. 

As for the two returning legacy characters, they’re a mixed bag. Now that the ‘requel’ has become a more clearly defined sub genre with its own set of unique tropes, some of this film’s choices involving its legacy characters feel somewhat uninspired. Frustratingly, Julie is only ever used to provide the teen characters with surprisingly crappy advice. Also, her estranged relationship with Ray is interesting, but also feels like a jarringly massive jump from where we last saw them. The script doesn’t provide much context for what ended their relationship, so it’s tough to understand why they suddenly dislike one another. It’s clear that the writers never figured out how to integrate Julie in a satisfying way, but I’ll admit that her presence is still a welcome one. 

SPOILER ALERT. Freddie Prinze Jr. receives a much meatier role, with the film eventually revealing that he is one of the killers. There’s rightfully a lot of negative buzz around this reveal, with many audiences feeling that it retroactively ruins his heroic actions throughout the first two films. On one hand, I agree; it never feels good when a hero you love makes a full-on heel turn. On the other hand, I appreciated such a ballsy, creative choice. I don’t think that the script lays the proper foundation for this twist to land as well as it could have, but I do believe that it’s a somewhat natural direction in which to take the character. Ray’s arc throughout the first two films is that he’s unable to put the past behind him, staying in his hometown and working as a fisherman (I should’ve seen it coming). The trauma of his past eventually builds to a breaking point, urging him to recreate those events, but this time in complete control.

Although the film is a lot of fun on its surface, it begins to fall apart as soon as you start to ask the most basic of questions. Characters constantly say they’re going to do one thing and then immediately do the opposite, get piss drunk even though a killer is hunting them, and also go off on their own at nearly every given opportunity. Besides Ava, the characters are also generally idiotic. I struggle to understand how they passed high school, but since they’re rich, I suppose it makes sense.

Overall, this is a fun, but admittedly stupid and cliche horror ‘requel’ that will undoubtedly be used as a future example of how not to approach the sub genre. The line between being offended by the film and appreciating its risks is a thin one, but I landed on the side of appreciation. That being said, the rough script features numerous plot holes and confusing character choices. If all that you desire is a serviceable slasher experience, you’ll most likely find the film to be a fun time. If you want anything more, be sure to temper your expectations, especially if you’re a diehard fan of the original. That being said, I’m a lot higher on the film than most people, it seems. C+