I’ve never truly connected with the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise. Even when the 1997 original tried riding the success of Scream, it always felt like a lesser echo. The iconic image of the hook-wielding fisherman, the soaked streets of Southport, and that unforgettable scream – “What are you waiting for?!” – secured its place in horror history, but nostalgia alone was never enough to make me care. So when news broke that Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) would direct a new legacy sequel, co-written with Sam Lansky (The Dropout), I was mildly curious – though mostly skeptical.
Set decades after the original events, I Know What You Did Last Summer finds Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) attempting to rebuild her life far from Southport, while Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr.) runs a bar back home, still carrying the weight of the past. A new group of young adults – Danica (Madelyn Cline), Ava (Chase Sui Wonders), Milo (Jonah Hauer-King), Teddy (Tyriq Withers), and Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon) – find themselves drawn into a familiar nightmare after a tragic accident on the Fourth of July leads them to cover up a death. A year later, ominous messages appear, and soon, so does a killer in the signature slicker and hook.
Despite the setup offering potential for a modern reimagining of the franchise’s central themes – guilt, consequence, the enduring weight of secrets – the film squanders every opportunity. Robinson’s direction, so effective in balancing style and substance in Do Revenge, here feels adrift. Every scene is overly lit, framed for sleek digital consumption, and edited within an inch of its life. Any atmosphere that could lend weight to the tension is stripped away in favor of visual flash. There’s no time to feel fear – only movement.
The script is equally misguided. Lansky and Robinson attempt to modernize the narrative by incorporating elements of influencer culture, generational trauma, and hometown rot, but none of these ideas are developed beyond vague gestures. Characters talk about legacy, forgiveness, and reputation, but only in the most superficial ways. Conversations feel like they were written for trailers rather than actual character development, and every attempt at emotional sincerity is undercut by tonal inconsistency or narrative convenience.
Hewitt’s return as Julie could have provided a strong emotional anchor, but she’s given little to work with. Her character is present, but not impactful – more a symbol of the franchise than a person with agency in this story. Prinze Jr. fares slightly better, at least until the third act asks him to carry an absurd tonal shift that never lands. Neither performance feels rooted in anything more than an obligation to the franchise name.
The new cast looks the part but is saddled with underwritten, archetypal roles: the ambitious one, the tortured one, the follower, the skeptic, the wild card. Cline and Wonders, in particular, show glimpses of charisma, but their arcs are so thinly drawn that they never feel like real people facing real danger. I Know What You Did Last Summer rarely slows down to let us connect with any of them, which makes the stakes feel as weightless as the dialogue.
As for the horror? It’s almost entirely ineffective. The kills are unimaginative, edited so rapidly that any sense of dread evaporates instantly. There’s no suspense, no mounting paranoia, no careful buildup. The Fisherman’s presence should be iconic and terrifying, but here, he’s a ghost of his former self – reduced to a lifeless costume that evokes familiarity but never fear.
Perhaps most frustrating is how calculated everything feels. I Know What You Did Last Summer constantly tries to echo moments from the original, not out of love for the source material, but as a checklist of references. Instead of reinventing or deepening the mythology, the movie uses legacy as a shortcut to relevance. It leans heavily on nostalgia but forgets to tell a story worth remembering.
What’s left is a movie that doesn’t trust itself – or its audience. It doesn’t want to challenge fans of the original or offer something genuinely new to younger viewers. It simply wants to exist in the hazy middle ground where IP recognition is enough to justify its own mediocrity. Every choice feels safe, studio-polished, and emotionally hollow.
Final Thoughts on I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer is a glossy, shallow reboot that mistakes recognition for resonance, failing to revitalize the franchise in any meaningful way. Despite a few solid performances and flashes of potential, the film never finds its footing as horror, legacy sequel, or even as a character-driven drama. It’s not thrilling, it’s not moving, and it’s certainly not memorable. The only thing I know for sure is that I’ll never revisit this summer.
Rating: D-
I Know What You Did Last Summer is now playing in theaters.
Learn more about the film, including how to buy tickets, at the official website for the title.
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