Freakier Friday ★★★★

Released: 8 August 2025

Director: Nisha Ganatra

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Manny Jacinto, Chad Michael Murray

Nostalgia is probably one of the most powerful feelings we can have as individuals. It’s a tool that can make us yearn for our younger selves again, while also being therapeutic, allowing us to connect to our past. Though, it can be bittersweet and make us miss periods of our lives, such as childhood. Back in 2003, Disney films became a catalogue of happiness for many growing up, and one of them being Mark Watter’s fantasy comedy Freaky Friday. Now, 22 years later Lindsay Lohan and Jamie-Lee Curtis are back and ready to rock in Freakier Friday.

Anna Coleman (Lohan) and her mother Tess (Curtis) learned a lot of lessons after their adventures of swapping bodies with one another. Over two decades later Anna has left Pink Slip to become a music producer and manager, all while raising her rebellious daughter Harper (Julia Butters). While nothing will compare to Anna’s teenage angst against Tess, this changes when Anna falls for Eric (Manny Jancito), a dashing chef from England, whose daughter Lily (Sophia Hammons) is Harper’s high school arch nemesis. Six months later Anna and Eric are engaged and happier than ever. The pair are faced with a tough decision on whether to stay in Los Angeles or move to England, which causes upset and further friction between Harper and Lily.

During Anna’s Bachelorette party, all four meet with a fortune teller who warns the two duos separately about their fractured relationships. Just like the first film, an earthquake shakes the ground which only they can feel. The next morning, the house is full of screaming girls discovering they have switched bodies – Anna and Harper have switched, and so have Tess and Lily (who has a major freak out about her now wrinkles). To get back, all relationships must be mended but in doing so emotions run high as Harper and Lily run the risk of ruining their parent’s wedding.

There’s a clear apprehension going into Freakier Friday because as a generation who have grown up with the first film, you don’t want the nostalgia magic it has to be ruined. We’re in a predictable era in filmmaking at the moment where sequels, reboots and further instalments of some of our beloved films are dominating our screens. It almost seems as though Hollywood has become allergic to originality. However, director Nisha Ganatra has taken Freaky Friday, and just like the title suggests, has made it even more freakier. It works, and it’s clear that Jordan Weiss’ screenplay was carefully constructed with audiences at the heart. Of course there are jokes and modern day Gen Z words such as ‘slay’ that are taken a bit too far, but that’s also the fun of it. It’s not too heavy handed like it could have been. The narrative is adapted in a clever way that while it’s a new story it is heavily influenced on its original film, and feels like an honest progression of the characters story.

Lohan and Curtis’ return is everything and more. Their chemistry is just as electrifying as it was back in 2003. As Anna and Tess, they possess something that seems so relatable in mother and daughter relationships – the fun, the caring but also the sadness, anger and conflict that can occur. Arguably, while the return of the main stars is a major moment, it’s really Butter’s and Hammon’s that steal the show. Their portrayals as Harper and Lily were great and really showed emotion in their struggle to find common ground with one another, highlighting the struggles of blended families.

In an industry where originality is sorely lacking, Freakier Friday takes that and evolves what it means to make a sequel. It’s fresh, naturally funny while also having plenty of heart. Its original film is kept at the core of this follow-up and through a considered screenplay and its direction, I’m thankful it doesn’t feel like a rip off. Here’s proving that modern day nostalgia still exists.