We shouldn’t be surprised that another legacy nostalgia sequel like Freakier Friday is hitting theaters. Since 2020, we’ve seen the return of some Ghostbusters, Happy Gilmore, Pete Mitchell, Bugs Bunny, Beetlejuice, the spawn of Frank Drebin, and the Sanderson Sisters—back on both the silver and streaming screens. Yet, of all the non-original entertainment, who would’ve thought the Coleman girls would make a comeback?
Undoubtedly, people who grew up with the original story of Freakier Friday—many of whom are now film critics in their 30s and 40s—will have fond memories of the poignant comedy about mothers and daughters. However, when I was younger, I thought Saved by the Bell was the pinnacle of the art form. So here’s a little secret: the first Freaky Friday wasn’t that good, and now the second isn’t all that much better.
No disrespect to Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Dennis Haskins, or the rest of the Saved by the Bell family—I’m just using it to illustrate how our standards change with age, no matter whose body you’re swapping out of. Which pains me to say, because this film features a very funny turn from Julia Butters, who was the standout in ABC’s American Housewife and, of course, stole the show alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
One of the main problems with the film is the same issue most legacy sequels suffer from. They shuffle the original characters around and introduce a new one that mirrors the first film. (They even follow the same third-act closing sequence.) The script from Jordan Weiss (Sweethearts), her sophomore feature, follows the beats of the first. This time, introducing Harper (the wonderful Julia Butters), daughter of Anna (Lindsay Lohan, reprising her role), and granddaughter to Tess (Academy Award winner Jamie Lee Curtis).
One good thing about Freakier Friday is its great supporting cast. For instance, Manny Jacinto shows up as a charming, widowed single father. They meet after his daughter Lily (Sophia Hammons) clashes with Harper at school. Soon, Anna falls for him, and they are engaged. Of course, Harper is having trouble accepting it. Lohan’s character now has one of those pie-in-the-sky jobs that most people never come close to achieving. Anna is a music manager to Never Have I Ever’s Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, who plays Ella, who lacks professional boundaries.
While Anna seems to have a reasonable work-life balance in her current role, her mother Tess is struggling to embrace the so-called “golden years” with grace. Naturally, this sets up some “new” humor centered around the aging process. When a psychic (played by Saturday Night Live’s Vanessa Bayer) accidentally triggers a body swap involving all four female characters, Harper and Anna switch—mirroring the original dynamic—while Tess and Lily also trade places, which feels a bit silly and forced.
As expected, the main stars from the original are now portrayed by the younger actors, who spend much of the film trying to sabotage the wedding. It’s a familiar setup—much like the plot of The Parent Trap, the very movie that made Lohan a child star. In typical Disney fashion, the studio engages in multiple acts of self-plagiarism, repackaging old formulas as if they were fresh ideas. Is the film some decent fun for the core fanbase? Sure, but that’s mainly because that audience mistakenly believes the original Freaky Friday was a classic to begin with.
The film is full of fluff, including the return of Chad Michael Murray, who’s enjoying a mid-career hunky resurgence thanks to Netflix’s Mother of the Bride, The Merry Gentleman, and the top-ten staying power of the Canadian import Sullivan’s Corner. Too many scenes feel forced, unnecessary, and out of place. The film would’ve been stronger if it were a younger actor-centric film, allowing the bigger names to fade into the background.
Some of the Freakier Friday humor aimed at women’s issues comes off as cheap. The story lacks the emotional depth and poignant heart that many misremember from the original. That said, one nice thing about the film is that mothers who loved the first can now watch it with their daughters: a female-centric family film, which remains in short supply even today. Yet, what you have is a designer label slapped on a substandard product. The rising star in Butters and the original cast deserve better.
Freakier Friday will debut exclusively in theaters on August 8, 2025, courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Freakier Friday forgets to swap in a worthwhile script
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GVN Rating
I am a film and television critic and a proud member of the Las Vegas Film Critic Society, Critics Choice Association, and a 🍅 Rotten Tomatoes/Tomato meter approved. However, I still put on my pants one leg at a time, and that’s when I often stumble over. When I’m not writing about movies, I patiently wait for the next Pearl Jam album and pass the time by scratching my wife’s back on Sunday afternoons while she watches endless reruns of California Dreams. I was proclaimed the smartest reviewer alive by actor Jason Isaacs, but I chose to ignore his obvious sarcasm. You can also find my work on InSession Film, Ready Steady Cut, Hidden Remote, Music City Drive-In, Nerd Alert, and Film Focus Online.
