Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan Reunite for More Fun in Freakier Friday
DIRECTED BY NISHA GANATRA/2025
After the recent influx of multi-million nostalgia sequels that have been released in the past several years, it is fair to say that a certain fatigue has developed for this specific genre. What makes it even more frustrating is the consistent lack in quality in these films. Sure, there are some exceptions to this, but every blockbuster hit like Top Gun: Maverick or Twisters appears to be accompanied by at least five or so lackluster duds. As an audience member, a ticket to one of these movies seems like a risk nowadays. After 22 years, Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis have finally arrived for their take on the “legacy sequel” with Freakier Friday.
Long gone are Anna Coleman’s (Lohan) days of teenage angst and punk-rock attitude. She has traded in her alternative style for a blazer and is now a single mom learning how to navigate the relationship with her own rebellious daughter, Harper. With a wild spirit equivalent to that of the younger Anna, Harper (Julia Butters) certainly gives her mother a run for her money. Harper is experiencing her own teenage troubles at school, mainly from Lily Reyes (Sophia Hammons), the new girl who has traveled across the pond from England. Their deep animosity for each other leads them straight to the detention room. Unfortunately, this also sparks an unconventional meet-cute between Anna and Lily’s widowed father, Eric (Manny Jacinto). The sparks fly instantly, forcing the two teenagers to come to grips with their future as a family and their impending move to London.
Much like how Freaky Friday centered on Tess’s (Curtis) remarriage, now Anna’s impending nuptials see her same position as her mother – again, technically. Tess herself has settled into her role as a grandmother with a persistent, and quite predictable, overbearing need to be helpful. These strange dynamics are further complicated when all four women have an encounter with the strange psychic Miss Jen (Vanessa Bayer in all of her former SNL glory) that leads to a four-way body swap. And that is only the beginning of the freakiness. Harper and Lily acclimate to their newfound freedom as adults in their first joint effort to sabotage their parents’ wedding, while Anna and Tess experience what it’s like to be a teenager in this age.
Plot-wise, Freakier Friday is only slightly distant from its predecessor. There are certainly plenty of wild antics between all four leading ladies and each gets the moment to shine. Lohan and Curtis in particular throw themselves into the physical comedy with a reckless abandon that is respectable, even if every joke doesn’t land 100% of the time. Even after 22 years this duo has not lost their step, and it is quite evident they are having a blast being back together. The younger leads give more reserved performances as adults trapped in youthful bodies, but they manage to go toe-to-toe with these established names. These four are surrounded by a cast of returning faces. Ryan (Mark Harmon) is just as kind and understanding as he was when he married Tess, and Jake (Chad Michael Murray) is still harboring his intense crush on her as well (perhaps my favorite running gag from the original film).
Things get pretty crazy the moment Freakier Friday adds two additional daughters into this mix, and it is pretty easy to lose track of who’s who once the body swapping begins. The extra relationships make solving issues much more complex, and the film’s limited runtime struggles to entirely flesh out all of the leads completely. Even between the countless gags and bits, Freakier Friday sneaks in a healthy amount of emotional conversations. The development specifically between Harper and Lily builds at a natural pace and feels as authentic as possible in such a goofy setting.
The cathartic climax is equally as cheesy as it is genuinely heartwarming. In those final moments, the film manages to capture the nostalgic joy we found all those years ago in the 2000’s. At their core, both films have always been about the intricacies of mother-daughter relationships. Perhaps these kinds of films will never capture the same magic found in their predecessors, but Freakier Friday managed to remind me just how messy being a teenage girl once was. It’s fun, it’s freaky, and it’s there to remind you that you are the product of generations before you.