2025’s upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel could fix one major issue with the original movie thanks to a recent slasher trend and its inspired choice of director. 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer may have been based on author Lois Duncan’s 1973 novel of the same name, but director Jim Gillespie’s movie had another, more immediately evident inspiration. I Know What You Did Last Summer’s screenplay was written by Scream scribe Kevin Williamson, and the movie shared that classic slasher’s self-aware wit and postmodern style.

Now, 2025’s I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel is set to bring the franchise back for a new generation of slasher fans. Since I Know What You Did Last Summer 2025’s cast of characters includes Freddie Prinze Jr and Jennifer Love Hewitt reprising their roles from the original movie, the project is a direct sequel set in the same universe rather than a reboot. Like 2022’s Scream, 2025’s I Know What You Did Last Summer aims to update the world of the franchise with both returning legacy characters and new stars.

1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer Isn’t A Whodunit (But It Feels Like One)

I Know What You Did Last Summer’s Original Mystery Is Disappointing

However, Scream had something that I Know What You Did Last Summer was always missing, despite the reliable wit and charm of Williamson’s script. Namely, 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer isn’t a whodunit mystery, despite how much it might feel like one. Thanks to Kevin Williamson’s writing style, I Know What You Did Last Summer has the tone and atmosphere of Scream, Urban Legend, Valentine, Cherry Falls, or any other late ‘90s slasher where the killer is not unmasked and identified until the finale. However, this is misleading.

I Know What You Did Last Summer’s killer isn’t Johnny Galecki’s jealous Max, Anne Heche’s unsettling Missy, or any other suspect, but rather Ben Willis, the faceless fisherman the friends accidentally killed in the opening scene. The revelation that he wasn’t really ᴅᴇᴀᴅ retroactively makes I Know What You Did Last Summer a more straightforward slasher like Halloween, rather than a murder mystery.

While this might not seem like a major distinction, I Know What You Did Last Summer’s sequel can highlight the difference when the movie arrives. Many major slasher franchises, including Friday the 13th’s sequels, the Halloween movies, Child’s Play, Candyman, Leprechaun, and A Nightmare on Elm Street, feature no murder mystery elements since their supernatural villains are easily identified. 2006’s I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer attempted this with Ben Willis, reinventing the franchise’s villainous as the explicitly supernatural “Fisherman.”

I Know What You Did Last Summer 2025 Needs A New Killer

Ben Willis Is Unlikely To Return By Supernatural Means

However, the disastrous critical failure of I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer proves that viewers preferred the franchise’s original, if misleading, murder mystery tone. Judging by the 2025 sequel’s first trailer, I Know What You Did Last Summer will lean hard into this with a whodunit plot. While it is entirely possible that Ben Willis will somehow return from the grave, it seems more likely that the sequel will be a traditional whodunit where everyone is a suspect.

I Know What You Did Last Summer’s 2025 sequel should be a murder mystery since this approach is what was missing from the 1997 original. Already, I Know What You Did Last Summer 2025’s plot is very similar to the original movie, with another set of kids covering up another tragic accident a generation after their 1997 counterparts did the same. As such, the best way to enliven this potentially predictable story is to reveal that the killer stalking them isn’t the person they thought they killed, but another suspect entirely.

I Know What You Did Last Summer 2025’s New Killer Fits The Best Recent Slasher Trend

Many Recent Slasher Hits Doubled As Whodunit Mysteries

If the most successful slasher movies of the last few years prove anything, it is that audiences love a slasher story with a murder mystery at its core. Although 2024’s Terrifier 3 fits the supernatural killer mold outlined above, almost every other major slasher movie of the last ten years has been a whodunit. Happy Death Day, Happy Death Day 2 U, There’s Someone Inside Your House, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Thanksgiving, Totally Killer, Scream 2022, Scream VI, It’s A Wonderful Knife, and Heart Eyes all prove this is clearly a popular approach to slashers.

Even 2022’s Halloween Ends added a mystery subplot with the introduction of Corey Cunningham, a second killer who was arguably entirely superfluous to the story of Michael Myers. The success of Scream 2022 and Scream VI DWQDQ with both critics and audiences highlights just how many viewers want murder mystery plots in their slasher movies. This means I Know What You Did Last Summer’s sequel is perfectly primed to redeem the original movie’s disappointing final twist, especially thanks to its perfectly selected director.

I Know What You Did Last Summer 2025’s Director Is A Master of Mysteries

2022’s Do Revenge Highlighted Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s Genre Acumen

At first glance, Do Revenge director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is a surprising choice for 2025’s I Know What You Did Last Summer. Her most notable projects to date include that teen comedy and 2020’s Unpregnant, both of which were critically well-liked but neither of which proved the director has any acumen as a horror helmer. However, Do Revenge did manage to pull off a mᴀssive, genuinely unpredictable twist that elevated the two-hander from a sunny, fun teen movie to an instant classic.

This proves Robinson could give the I Know What You Did Last Summer series the franchise’s first surprising ending in almost 30 years. Although 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer remains a beloved ‘90s classic, its ending is entirely predictable, and the attempted red herrings only make it more frustrating when the killer is revealed to be the most obvious suspect. Similarly, 1998’s I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was as uninspired as its тιтle sounded and didn’t even try to make its killer a mystery.

Since I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer‘s attempts to turn the series into a more supernatural sort of slasher failed spectacularly, there is no better time for 2025’s sequel to finally offer viewers the story the movies always deserved. Do Revenge proved that I Know What You Did Last Summer’s director is up to this challenge, making the sequel’s genre shift an exciting proposition.