Films for Breakfast

Legacy sequels were once reserved for iconic franchises like Rocky or Star Wars, but these days, it seems like almost anything can get the legacy treatment. Even so, Freaky Friday getting one still caught me off guard. That’s not to say I don’t love the original – it was hugely formative for me, a movie I watched constantly as a kid and one of the few films my whole family genuinely enjoyed together. But it always felt like a self-contained story, and one that was already a remake to begin with. And yet, here we are! It’s 2025, which, if you’re counting, marks 22 years since the original film premiered – and now Freakier Friday is here to, hopefully, click with younger and older audiences alike.

Freakier Friday picks up years after the events of the original film. Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) is now not only a therapist but also a bestselling author and popular podcaster. Her daughter Anna (Lindsay Lohan) is a single mother juggling a demanding job, a stalled music career, and the challenge of connecting with her teenage daughter, Harper (Julia Butters). Things get even more complicated when Anna falls for Eric (Manny Jacinto) – who is seemingly the perfect man. The catch? His daughter Lily (Sophia Hammons) and Harper can’t stand each other. As tensions escalate in the lead-up to Anna and Eric’s wedding, chaos strikes: the Coleman women and Lily all switch bodies – specifically, the teens swap places with the adults.

When it comes to making a sequel to Freaky Friday, simply repeating the same body-swap premise again with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan wouldn’t offer much. Thankfully, Freakier Friday makes a smart choice, on paper, at least, by having the original duo swap bodies again, but this time with the younger generation, allowing the older cast to play teens and the younger cast to play adults. In practice, it works to varying degrees. The film occasionally bites off more than it can chew conceptually, and with two extra characters in the mix, it can get a little confusing keeping track of who’s in whose body. Still, the tone stays light and playful, and most of the jokes land well – thanks largely to the cast’s fully committed performances.

Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan slip effortlessly back into their roles, rekindling their chemistry with ease. It genuinely feels like we’re picking up with the same characters from twenty years ago. The newcomers, however, are just as impressive, holding their own alongside the returning leads. Julia Butters, who’s had an impressive run since her scene-stealing turn in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, is quite great here – she commands nearly every scene she’s in. Sophia Hammons also shines as Lily, especially when she swaps places with Curtis and gets to show off her comedic range.

The biggest surprise for me, though, was the relationship between Anna and Eric. I’ve been a fan of Manny Jacinto since The Good Place, and he brings that same charm and warmth here. It’s their chemistry, and the looming wedding subplot, that anchors the film emotionally. Jacinto is not only incredibly endearing as the romantic lead, but both he and Hammons are given surprisingly earnest material that adds depth to the emotion and character work. The gradual bond that forms between the four women is handled with care, and I found the third act to be genuinely moving at times.

In classic legacy sequel fashion, Freakier Friday features a handful of cameos and returning side characters from the original – Anna’s bandmates from Pink Slip, Stephen Tobolowsky reprising his role as Mr. Bates, and a particularly hilarious return from Chad Michael Murray as heartthrob Jake, whose scenes provide some of the film’s biggest laughs. But thankfully, the film charts enough new territory that it never feels like it’s leaning too heavily on nostalgia. It fully commits to its updated take on the premise and lets that be the focus.

Freakier Friday doesn’t quite reinvent the wheel; its premise can feel a bit overstuffed at times, and it probably could’ve trimmed about ten minutes in the editing room. Still, it remains a consistently enjoyable watch thanks to the strong performances from its four leads, all of whom bring real heart and comedic energy to the screen. I laughed more than I expected and genuinely cared about the characters’ arcs – proving that this sequel earns its place, not just as a fun return, but as a worthy continuation of the story.