Though no one asked for it, the next installment of I Know What You Did Last Summer is back on the big screen. However, it doesn’t take long before the film makes a strong case against letting legacy sequels ever see the light of day. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt return to the franchise, transitioning from victims to mentors for the fresh group of young people. These young people are played by Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, and Sarah Pidgeon, who make up the new batch of characters being chased around Southport by a figure in a hook.

Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, known for Someone Great and Do Revenge, the new I Know What You Did Last Summer drips with slang and topical references that already date the project. It doesn’t take long for the film to make every appeal it can to younger audiences, as Gabbriette Bechtel’s small role and allusions to the marketability of true crime try to prove just how in touch the project is. However, while Southport and its fun set pieces might look better than ever, this new coat of paint can’t combat the fact that we didn’t need another I Know What You Did Last Summer.

I Know What You Did Last Summer Relies On The Legacy Of The Original To Excuse Lazy Storytelling

The Reboot Doesn’t Try To Have A Fresh Perspective

The new characters are aged up to post-college life, and have more complex relationship dynamics than we’ve ever seen in the franchise. This time around, they know there should always be a designated driver. Cline’s Danica is a highlight, as she takes on the Helen-esque character who never has to take the events as seriously as Wonder’s Ava, who shoulders the weight of almost all the guilt and self-seriousness. Other than Hewitt and Prinze Jr., who phone it in from the jump, the performances are occasionally decent.

However, I Know What You Did Last Summer is never brave enough to make its characters truly bad, unlikable, or show that they’ve felt the after-effects of the guilt and trauma the movie loves bringing up. Relying on the audience’s knowledge of the early movies and the widespread acceptance of therapy speak on the internet, the film is comfortable enough to be lazy in building the motivations of its characters, especially its villains. The reboot expects near-limitless goodwill from audiences, but there’s only so much left to give when there are this many franchise revivals hitting screens.

I Know What You Did Last Summer might claim it thinks “nostalgia is overrated,” but this is not part of the movie’s ethos. Nostalgia is everywhere, pouring out of every scene, like all the reboots that have come before it. While it’s exciting for long-time fans of the franchise to see Hewitt, Prinze Jr., and the many pictures of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Helen that pop up throughout the story, their characters and the history of Southport are all that give the narrative any sense of weight, and it feels like an echo.

I Know What You Did Last Summer makes up for the dated elements of the original through its modern themes and plot points. The film gives its female characters more agency, subverts the final girl trope, and de-centers romance as the only significant type of relationship. All of these elements are great on paper, and I would have loved to see Wonders’ Ava get to explore her Sєxuality even more than she already does. However, it comes off as if the film is checking off boxes on a to-do list rather than embracing the importance of its own ideology.

This is only further cemented by the fact that the film is estranged from its sense of idenтιтy. Every explanation about the plot and characters feels like the movie is attempting to get ahead of a Reddit thread that will unpack the logical fallacies of the story. However, I Know What You Did Last Summer has too silly a concept at its core for viewers to expect anything other than fantasy. The characters are smart enough to do their research and stick to the buddy system, until suddenly they’re not, and are stupid enough to stand in graveyards alone.

I Know What You Did Last Summer Doesn’t Want To Scare You, It Wants To Make You Laugh

Outside A Few Gory Moments, The Film Is Determined To Be More Silly Than Scary

While no one comes to a horror movie like I Know What You Did Last Summer looking to be scared, this legacy sequel will struggle to frighten the most squeamish audience members. The film is almost too well-lit for there to be a question about who’s hiding in the dark. The polished veneer might give the reboot a more serious look, but it detracts from the roots of the story and how horror finds that balance between satire and terror. This isn’t helped by the fact that we never get the chance to care about almost anyone but Danica and Ava.

There are moments when the film is genuinely funny, and even a little sweet, but the stakes are too low and nebulous to be anxious about who will be gutted next. The film’s last-minute twist didn’t do anything to make up for this, as even if you didn’t see the killer’s reveal coming, it isn’t surprising. I never found myself genuinely wondering who the murderer was, which isn’t a good sign. I Know What You Did Last Summer isn’t the worst long-awaited horror sequel ever put to screen, but it doesn’t try to be anything but a shallow reflection of its predecessor.