I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)

This sequel only wakes up when Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. walk in, and that tells you everything. Before they show up it’s a rerun. Five friends in a small North Carolina coastal town cause a crash on a cliffside road on July Fourth, swear to keep quiet, and a year later the threats start arriving, right on schedule for a bridal shower. Madelyn Cline’s Danica is the best of the new crew, and a true-crime podcaster digging into the town’s 1997 case is a smart touch. Once Julie and Ray return, the stakes feel real, and Ray calling out the town’s old cover-up at a town hall meeting is the best scene in it. But the editing keeps tripping over its own timing, the back half suddenly turns serious, and the formula gets zero new ideas. Rotten Tomatoes critics landed at 36%, and that feels generous. A 4.0 because nostalgia does all the heavy lifting. $303 says the next cliffside road you drive, both hands stay glued to the wheel the entire way down.

What works: Madelyn Cline is a sharp lead, and Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. bring real weight when they arrive.

What doesn’t: The editing has no rhythm, the back half lurches into a serious tone, and the script adds nothing new to the formula.

Who it’s for: Fans of the 1997 original who mostly want to see Julie and Ray one more time.