Fans of the original Freaky Friday (2003) will be in for a fun romp for the best part of two hours with this modern sequel.
★★★☆☆
What to make of a sequel to the 2003 hit film Freaky Friday released in 2025? A fan service film. We all know Disney has been churning out remake after remake, and with a limited number of princess films left, it was time to turn to other intellectual properties.
Freakier Friday follows Anna, played by Lindsay Lohan once again, a music manager and single mother, raising her daughter with the help of her mother Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis), as they navigate mixed family dynamics and more body swaps. Anna falls in love and wants to get remarried. However, her daughter Harper (Julia Butters), can’t seem to get along with her future stepsister Lily (Sophia Hammons).
Fans of the original might be nervous but the key ingredients of what made Freaky Friday so fun are at the heart and centre of the sequel – Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. As a duo, they are still a treat to watch on screen. Curtis is phenomenal and outperforms Lindsay at times with sharp and witty humour. Not failing to get a laugh from the audience in every comedic scene, her use of physical comedy is phenomenal throughout the film, and she doesn’t fail to throw herself into the process.
Seeing Lindsay Lohan back in this role was heartwarming too-now playing a grown adult, career woman and single mother. The grumpy teenager has become the therapy speak mother. She plays it well, but is endlessly more fun when she’s channeling a teenage girl again, embracing the silliness and awkwardness of an adolescent in the body of a grown woman.
Is it a copy and paste of the previous film? Absolutely. It rushes the exposition to get to the more juicy parts of the film. This creates some unearned emotional breakthroughs towards the film’s finale because so much time is given to the comedic elements of the plot, which weakens the emotional resolutions of the films.
The costuming also remains fun and lively throughout the film, where it could have gone in a neutral direction. Costume Designer Natalie O’Brien brings the fun back and doesn’t get lost in trying to appeal to modern fashion sensibilities. Despite this, the film doesn’t integrate a lot of punk fashion, which made Anna’s character so memorable in the original film. In the original Anna is a combative teenage guitarist in a garage band. Her punk preferences were iconic and it felt like the sequel misses the opportunity to have Anna reclaim these punk elements as a way of reclaiming her youthfulness.
It is safe to say that the younger actresses pull their weight and are sidelined in the plot, but their talents aren’t utilised to maximum capacity. More spotlight should have been given to the character Lily, the subsequent stepsister, her culture and fears of losing connection. Throughout Freakier Friday, we are given small moments, but not enough to feel the impact of what it’s like to join a new family.
The supporting cast is also phenomenal in its own right and at times steals the show in the best way possible. Every character is beaming with comedic talent. Chad Michael Murray reprising the role of Jake could have been stale, but it was not, allowing for the revival of jokes that are 20 years old to still feel fresh and humorous.
Overall, the film’s direction focuses on commemorating the return of Lohan and Curtis to our screens. This has its merits, but it means that the storytelling can come across as abrupt at certain points in the film.
The Verdict
If you’re looking for a fun romp with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, then this film is for you. Silly, funny and just as weird as the original, Freakier Friday is a decent sequel to a cult classic.
Words by Ayomide Asani
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