This review contains spoilers for the original I Know What You Did Last Summer. Please read at your own risk.
Back in 1997, with the continuous popularity of teen slasher films, director Jim Gillespie released I Know What You Did Last Summer, based on the novel of the same name written by the late Lois Duncan. While released to mixed reviews, it has since garnered a fanbase for its 90s romance charm and fisherman’s kills. Its sequel released the following year, while not as much receptive as the first one, still has a good following. Its straight-to-DVD sequel from 2006 and a television adaptation, we do not talk about.
The original film follows a group of teenagers (Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe) on a Fourth of July weekend who accidentally ran over a lone fisherman. Worried that their lives are ruined, the four dispose of the body and go on with their lives, hoping to forget about it. A year later, a mysterious fisherman stalks the four and plans on killing each of the four one by one. The newest film with the same title directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) takes place nearly 30 years later and follows a new group of friends (Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, and Sarah Pidgeon). Who encounter a much deadlier fisherman following their cover-up of a road accident during the Fourth of July weekend. Along the way they talk to the 2 survivors of the 1997 film, Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), in hopes of escaping the fisherman’s deadly hook.
Unfortunately, brutal kills can’t save I Know What You Did Last Summer from an uneven tone, little character development and poor script. Back and forth there’s a lot of added humour that rarely fits and comes off like a parody/satire, similar to the Scream films, which the series itself satires the slasher genre and is self-aware. While I admit some did get a chuckle out of me, most of the time I could not help but cringe a little on the inside. It felt more like the film wanted to establish that same feel of the 1997’s film, but with the year being 2025, the genre has evolved, I Know What You Did Last Summer wanted to stay in the 90s.
To add to more disappointment, the five main characters never felt developed. They felt one dimensional and don’t feel as connected in hopes they’d make it out of the film alive. There were mostly humour elements added on instead of development elements to make us root for the characters. We do see glimpses on how each character is dealing with the events a year later reunited, but with one-liner jokes added in, and diversions towards humour, we don’t fully get to feel what they’re going through.
In the original 1997 film, we see each of the four characters dealing with the traumatic experience a year later when reunited. We see how Julie’s paranoia questions whether this is in her head due to the mental stress, or is real and the fisherman is taunting her. We also see Helen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) not fulfilling her dream of making it to New York City as an actress and stuck in Southport, reminded of the events. Ray felt guilty and trying to make amends with the sister of the victim, who unknowingly knows it was because of them her brother is dead, and Barry (Ryan Phillippe), in denial and thinking it’s all a prank.
There were some moments where an unexpected plot twist would occur, and I was ready for it, only for unnecessary humour to take over. If they had just gone for the plot twist, it would have made the film much better. The third act especially felt rushed, as if the film needed to tie loose fish nets up quickly. We don’t get to take in what’s happening as it’s in and out of the sequence and cut out important plot elements on the cutting room floor.
While I was mixed on director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s previous film Do Revenge, I do think she does have talent. I appreciate how she doesn’t make the movie feel like a cash grab on an already established series and does try to do something new with it. While the themes of trauma and how you can’t escape the past are explored, it never felt like it was truly explored with a new cast of characters. Which is unfortunate, because there is a gripping story within those themes. How one copes with such a traumatic experience is fitting for the sequel that builds on Ray and Julie also deal with said events from 1997.
I do give the film credit for its brutal kills from the fisherman. While the original 1997 film had little deaths with little gore, the new instalment went all out. Without spoiling too much, the film managed to create creative kills that can satisfy any fan of the slasher genre. It is on par with the brutal kills of 2021’s Halloween Kills.
If you’re a fan of mainly slasher films, you’ll find some enjoyment with this new take on the I Know What You Did Last Summer series. If you’re looking for something a little more, I’d say avoid the fisherman’s wrath. While the film does try to convey a message about trauma and overcoming, it’s held back by the uneven tone and underdeveloped script. Let’s just say the fisherman should have gotten me.
Watch the trailer right here.
All images via Sony.
Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Screenplay by Sam Lansky, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, from characters created by Lois Duncan
Produced by Neal H. Moritz
Starring Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Gabbriette Bechtel, Austin Nichols, Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt
Premiere Date: July 14, 2025
Running Time: 111 minutes
Cinema from the Spectrum 
Leave a comment