I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)

 

So, I finally watched the I Know What You Did Last Summer requel. Do you want to know what I thought about it? It sucked. It totally sucked, and I'm not surprised. Oftentimes, the original gets accused of being a Scream rip-off/cash grab, but this seems more like a Scream rip-off/cash grab. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, there was also a TV series, not that it's relevant to this review, but the I Know What You Did Last Summer television series came out at the same time the Scream TV series came out, which proves my point. This whole requel trend has been ongoing for a couple of years now, and although some, such as Halloween 2018 and Scream 2022, have been successful, the majority of these horror requels have fallen off pretty hard. I Know You Did Last Summer 2025 has no reason to exist, but the power of nostalgia persists, and here we are. 

The story is pretty much the same as the first one, only this time the main group of characters are college graduates in their twenties who just celebrated a friend's engagement party. There's Danica Richards, the bride to be, Teddy Spencer, the groom to be, Ava Brucks, the sensible one, Stevie Ward, the ex-best friend from the wrong side of the tracks, and Milo, Ava's love interest. Of course, on their way back, the group of friends caused an accident, but instead, they're hardly any at fault at all. Sure, one of them drunkenly stands in the middle of the road, but still, no fault I could think of. Their only crime is witnessing the person careening into the side of a bridge. The car gets stuck, and the group desperately tries to save the man, but the car swiftly collapses into a watery grave. And just like the first one, the group makes a pact to not tell anyone about the accident. It gets even more predictable when, at the same friend's bridal shower (she's engaged to someone else now), she receives a mysterious letter. She opens it, and of course, it says, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. After a string of murders happens, including the friend's current fiancé, the group comes to investigate and soon finds out that the perpetrator might have a connection to the 1997 Southport murders. They soon come across the final girl, Julie James, for help. I don't see how Julie fits into the story, but somehow, it makes sense later on when the killer is revealed, and that will contain spoilers, so I'll keep you posted. Once the group dwindles down, the surviving members must find out who's behind the murders before it's too late.

Okay, let's focus on our main characters, shall we? They're really nothing to write home about. I mean, there are characters in their twenties who act and speak like teens. It's really weird, particularly because one of them is about to get married. Not only that, but I find them to be extremely vapid, bland, and self-centered, with Ava being the only one I can get behind. So, let's go through them one by one. But first, let's get the lesser characters out of the way.

We have Wyatt, Dianca's second fiancé. Not much to know about him besides being a young yuppie type. He's the first to get killed and gets a rather bloody death scene. That's all I can say.

Then there's Tyler Trevino, whom I like to call "The Crime Podcast Girl." She's just a girl that Ava hooks up with on her way back to Southport, who's conducting some research on the 1997 Southport murders. The character itself is supposed to be a jab at true crime influencers who often make light of brutal real-life murders. I guess Tyler is supposed to be this comic relief as she talks in this monotone valley girl voice and even wears a t-shirt with Helen Shiever's face on it. However, the most idiotic moment in the movie is her death scene. Just when the killer has her cornered, Tyler says, "I'm a fan! I'm a fan!" Who gives a rat's ass if you're a fan? That doesn't stop the killer from killing you. This is the same problem I had with Scream 4, where a character blurts out, "I'm gay! I'm gay!" before the killer finishes them off. Look, it doesn't matter if you're a man, a woman, gay, straight, or even a fan; that doesn't stop the killer from killing you. So yeah, this was a pretty useless character, and she outlived her usefulness. 

We have the very handsome Billy Campbell, who's aged very well by the way, as Governor Grant Spencer, Teddy's dad. He's the one who actually covered up the accident and dismisses the townspeople's claims that they're might be a killer afoot, which makes him kind of a morally questionable character. He eventually runs into the killer, and it's safe to say that he doesn't last long. 

Finally, there's Pastor Judah, played by Austin Nichols, mostly known for the long-running show One Tree Hill. He's set up as a red herring due to his close relationship with Sam Cooper, the guy who died in the crash. But he's promptly killed off-screen, which lets him off the hook. No pun intended.

Now on to our main five:

First, Jonah Hauer-King, best known as Prince Eric from the live-action Little Mermaid, as Milo Griffin. He's what I like to call a satellite love interest, as he shares most of his scenes with Ava. Milo is just there for the most part. We never get to know his family life or how the accident affected him; he's just the generic guy, although Jonah Hauer-King served his role well. 

Then there's Sarah Pidgeon as Stevie Ward. She's basically the female version of Ray; the generic everygirl with less money than her friends. She's a bit harder-edged since there's mention of her being in rehab, but other than that, she's a bit of a mystery; however, that kind of fits her character, considering what happens towards the climax, and since I've mentioned that, I will discuss the climax later in the review. 

Here we have the stunning Tyriq Withers as Teddy Spencer, Danica's first fiancé before the accident. He's similar to Barry but a little less obnoxious, though he does come off as self-centered and very full of himself. He does get better later in the film; however, his ego gets the best of him. 

Then we have Madelyn Cline as Danica Richards. Danica is a delicate, pampered rich girl, the type of friend who you always take care of and check on after they have a bad day. And Danica is going through a lot. She's supposed to be a Helen Shivers expy, but the problem is that the movie never really explores her trauma like they did with Helen's in the original. I mean, all her friends are dying left and right, she has a target on her back, and she just got involved in a terrible accident just a year ago. Instead, the film portrays her as this ditzy blond who's obsessed with spiritual wellness, and the film doesn't really take her seriously. Danica, in all honesty, is kind of like Rachel from Friends before the character development. She claims to have this divine connection to Helen Shivers, which eventually leads to this bizarre dream sequence where Danica has a ghostly encounter with her. 

Speaking of, let's talk about the Sarah Michelle Gellar cameo. During pre-production, there have been talks of Helen Shivers returning in the film, but it was nearly impossible considering that she was killed in the first film. Even Sarah Michelle Gellar was confused. It's like these studio execs are so greedy to the point where their brains don't function well and won't even care to follow the events of the previous films they're trying to reboot. Yet try as they might, they wanted Sarah Michelle Gellar and, dammit, they were gonna have her. Okay, first off, shouldn't Julie be the one to have this dream? I mean, once you know that she kept having recurring nightmares of Ben Willis, it would be inevitable that she would have nightmares of her dead best friend, Helen. This would also align with her story arc of the past coming back to haunt her, and she must overcome her trauma to save the new characters. But overall, I thought the cameo was forced, and it didn't make sense in the narrative. 

Finally, we have Chase Sui Wonders as Ava Brucks. One of the many qualities that I like about Ava is that she's sure of herself, sexually liberated, and is still able to be an effective female lead. The actress actually does a good job here; it's just that the only problem is that she should be in a better movie. Other than the qualities I've listed, there's not much to know about her. We never really know about her home life, her occupation, or even her family lineage. For all we know, she could just be a socialite, living off her daddy's money. Besides that, Ava was the most easy to root for when it came to the main five.

Now, we have our legacy characters:

Ray is a much more proactive character this time around. He's not the guy who just hangs around or gets left out until the end; he actually serves a purpose to the story, particularly with the character of Stevie, who's mentioned to be a family friend of his. This time, Ray and Julie are divorced. There isn't any explanation why their relationship crumbled, but seeing how they were in the first two films, I'm not surprised at all. Freddie Prinze Jr.'s acting is mediocre at best. He's a little bit better than he was in the first two films, but he seems to be phoning it in this time around, and I don't blame him; the script doesn't do him any favors. However, Ray holds a deep, dark secret that will unravel in the climax...more on that later. 

Last but not least, we have Julie James, who has since become a professor who conducts studies on the effects of PTSD. Initially, Julie is a supporting character, but she takes center stage by the middle of the film as things begin to unravel. Jennifer Love Hewitt did a serviceable job despite the script's shortcomings and the cringy dialogue. I know most people don't really care for her acting in these movies, but at least she tries her best. 

The weakest part of the movie for me is the self-aware humor. The appeal of the 1997 version of I Know What You Did Last Summer is how straightforward it was, despite the not-so-great writing and mishandling of its characters. As mentioned, the screenplay is below-average if not outright subpar. There's nothing to keep my interest, and at times, it's a bit try-hard. It's not as clever as it thinks it is, and if it's trying to be like Scream, it failed miserably. For a slasher film, the deaths are creative enough, although it's nowhere near as gory as the second sequel; they're still quite brutal, but it doesn't save the movie from being underwhelming. 

The worst part of the movie for me has got to be the climax. Now, it's time for spoilers.

So out of the main five, it dwindles down to only Ava, Danica, and Stevie. After discovering the dead bodies of Teddy and his father, Grant, Ray urges the girls to escape Southport on Teddy's yacht. But suddenly, the scene cuts to the church, where the police find Pastor Judah's corpse. As they go to investigate, they see a photo of Stevie and the accident victim, Sam Cooper, together, which means...

Stevie is the killer! There seems to be a suspension of disbelief because there's no way a woman of her size would do all these killings herself unless she had some help, that is, and I'm pretty sure there's a second accomplice somewhere, but let's focus on Stevie for now. You see, Stevie met Sam Cooper in rehab, and the two instantly fell in love. After Sam's death, she went into a deep despair and even contemplated suicide. But instead of killing herself, she decides to take her anger out on her so-called friends and thus begins her killing spree. Quick side note here, see how Stevie is supposed to be the wayward one with less money and status, yet she turns out to be the killer? I mean, knowing how the economy is, don't you think that's a teeny bit offensive? Anywho, Ava, Danica, and Stevie have a bit of a struggle until Stevie stabs Danica in the gut and throws her overboard. So, Stevie has Ava cornered until Ray steps in and saves the day. He pleads with Stevie to stop the madness, but she doesn't, which prompts Ray to shoot her off the boat. As Ray comes to Ava's aid, she notices a wound on her shoulder, remembering her first encounter with The Fisherman, where she gave him the same wound. Then it cuts back to Julie, where she finds a picture of Ray and Stevie, realizing that she used to be a bar manager at Ray's restaurant. Somehow, Julie comes to the realization that...

Ray is the main killer! Wow, this literally shocked me, but then again, it doesn't make any sense, especially when in the second sequel, Ray went out of his way to save Julie. It's kind of like if Dewey or Gale turned out to be one of the Ghostface killers in Scream. It's incredibly jarring. And I swear, if they pull that crap in Scream 7, I would be officially done with that series and any other horror legacy sequel for that matter. But on to Ray. What is his motive? He doesn't want people to forget the trauma he experienced, so why project that trauma onto someone else? Again, that doesn't make any sense. You know what, fuck motives at this point. Whenever I watch a modern slasher these days, I wouldn't mind if the killer just likes killing because motives are overrated at this point. By the way, who the fuck wrote this script? Man, it's awful. And it gets even worse when Julie shows up to confront Ray. The back and forth between them is totally corny, and Julie even recites the "what are you waiting for, huh? line. Give me a fucking break. 

So with a bit of a struggle, Ava saves Julie by impaling Ray with a harpoon, and all is well. 

For some logical reason, Danica survives being stabbed in the gut and thrown into the sea. Not to mention, Ava got stabbed in the shoulder, but despite their wounds, the two seemed to walk just fine.

As they have lunch together, the two just laugh and joke as if they haven't experienced the most traumatic moments of their lives. Then they make a comment like "Oh, this could've been resolved if men had therapy." Okay, did they forget that one of the killers was female? Holy crap, this script is shit.

Then they casually mention that Stevie's body was never found and she could still be alive, as if nothing. Hello? This person tried to kill you. Shouldn't you be panicking or something? But this is all just to hype up ANOTHER sequel. My god, make it stop!

After a brief credits sequence, we meet Brandy Norwood as Kara Wilson. Great to see Brandy again, gotta love her, but the scene ends up being stupid, of course. What could've been a cute, nice cameo ends up being yet another sequel bait. Julie appears at Kara's doorstep. How does she know where she lives? I don't know. So, Julie tells her that she received a letter. Kara opens it, and it reads, "It isn't over." Instead, having some sense of urgency, Kara makes a sassy comment as if to say, "Let's go kick some ass, girl!" Yeah, whatever, I'm not waiting for the sequel.

So that was the I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel. Yep, it was a pile of shit. But I will say that it's a hell of a lot better than I Always Know, that will always be the worst in my eyes. This one was more forgettable if anything. Plus, the writing is way worse than the original, which soured any enjoyment from watching this, not that I was expecting much, though. I heard that Mike Flannigan was going to be involved, and since he's seen as the king of modern horror, this would've been way better than it was and actually would've matched the tone of the novel. But the studio execs wanted to appeal to the TikTok crowd instead.

I just don't see this as a franchise. I would've been fine with two films, and that's it, but these film execs try to make fetch happen, and it's just not gonna happen. However, the film was a moderate success, which means, yes, we might get that fifth sequel. Again, I will not be looking forward to it. If anything, this series is done, and should be done. 

My last word: watch it at your own risk.