I Know What You Did Last Summer review (2025)

There’s a line in the final act of I Know What You Did Last Summer that sums up this wholly unnecessary extension of the 90s quasi-franchise — nostalgia is overrated. 

That about sums up the approach from director/co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and screenwriter Sam Lansky, who exhumed the ashes of the 1997 film to place it in a sewer line with this new chapter. Watching the film play out, felt more like Robinson and Lansky hated I Know What You Did Last Summer instead of thinking there was enough of a fanbase left that would be thrilled with their handling of the series.  

It’s clear Robinson and Lansky, who worked off a story by Leah McKendrick and Robinson, were hoping to revitalize interest in I Know What You Did Last Summer in a similar fashion to the far more successful Scream series. After the initial popular trilogy, Scream has gone on to have three more installments with a seventh film in the works. With any luck, I Know What You Did Last Summer‘s meager box office haul should ensure this is the last time this franchise gets revisited despite a very hopeful and mid-credit scene. 

Ava (Chase Sui Wonders, Bodies, Bodies, Bodies) returns to her hometown of Southport to celebrate the engagement of her best friend Danica (Madelyn Cline) and Tommy (Tyriq Withers). Also celebrating is Ava’s old boyfriend, Milo (Jonah Hauer-King), who seems equally interested in rekindling their flame. The gang wants to keep the good times rolling and invites their old pal, Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon), to join in on the revelry. 

Teddy is the rare marijuana smoker who gets aggressively hyper instead of mellowed out and plays around in the street of a blind man’s curve. His goofing off leads to a driver losing control and crashing into the guardrail. Unlike the original, I Know What You Did Last Summer, the group springs into action to try and save the motorist instead of being more active participants in the death. 

Thanks to Teddy’s wealthy father Grant (Billy Campbell) who doesn’t want anything to spoil his plans to revitalize the community, the incident gets swept under the rug. A year later, the gang reunites for Danica’s engagement party to a new fiancé only to receive a note that states I Know What You Did Last Summer.  It’s not a vague threat as a person wearing a fishing slicker and carrying a hook starts a killing spree.

Once the bodies start piling up, the gang reaches out to the two surviving members of that initial attack Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr.). Robinson and Lansky ruin a perfectly good happily ever after by having Julie and Ray barely on speaking terms after getting divorced. 

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The script is written with a 90s mentality as well seeing as the friends don’t utilize any modern technology that would be second nature to their generation beyond one character using her phone to record her podcast.

There’s no trying to find a phone, checking phone data or scouring social media that could help them crack the case of the killer. In fairness that would ruin the very complicated investigation where the killer is discovered from a photo on a wall with the victim.

There are plenty of issues with I Know What You Did Last Summer, but the biggest is it doesn’t pass basic logic tests. Character choices are solely based on advancing the story even if their decisions make no/little sense. On two occasions, Teddy has the killer down and in a vulnerable state. Letting the killer go or walking away from them is fairly unforgiveable, but if nothing else Teddy could have saved some drama from unmasking the killer just to give everyone else a head’s up who’s gunning for them.

Overall, the cast is fine with no glaring anchors to the performances. A minor problem might be the size of the cast takes away time to develop the core five who did something last summer. Robinson’s pacing basically moves the film from one death setup scene, the slaying and repeat with no real thrills or excitement in between.

Robinson and Lansky don’t seem to have a high opinion of men as the guys exhibit some questionable decisions. There’s even a line stating, “All of this could be avoided if men just went to therapy,” which seems like a needlessly inflammatory line for a genre that celebrates “the final girl.”

I Know What You Did Last Summer’s death sequences aren’t terribly exciting. Robinson goes heavy with the number of jump scares, but the payoff action sequences are plodding and a little frustrating when the killer trades their hook and harpoon gun for a more generic knife stabbing.

I Know What You Did Last Summer is a pale comparison to the original thanks to its uninspired story that seems more intent on frustrating franchise fans with some divisive decisions instead of providing a good scream.

Rating: 2 out of 10

Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures

Instead of watching this shaky effort, revisit the original I Know What You Did Last Summer on 4K on Amazon. 

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