The Wasteland Reviewer

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) Written Review

Are we ready for yet another 90s horror film to get that legacy sequel treatment? When Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson created Scream, the whole horror landscape changed. The slasher subgenre became one of the biggest attractions in all of cinema. Like Halloween, Scream became a parent to plenty of rip-offs that kept expanding the genre. Probably the most famous rip-off of Scream was I Know What You Did Last Summer. This starred some of the biggest rising stars of the time with Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Sequels followed and success made this franchise a beloved addition to the genre. Now it is 2025 and audiences are being treated to a new legacy sequel aptly named…I Know What You Did Last Summer. 

Does director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson deliver an engaging and thrilling new entry to the franchise? Not quite. From a filmmaking standpoint, there is a lot left to be desired. The visual experience is a strange balance of sterile sheen in some scenes and unengaging grim presentation. There are multiple moments throughout the film that are so poorly edited that they cut the tension of the scenes (which is unfortunate when you are trying to make a horror film). The film does have its moments with some brutal kills and even more brutal presentations of their dead bodies (The Fisherman killer sure loves their trophies). Robinson does balance some solid Gen Z humor sprinkled throughout the film. I Know What You Did Last Summer is not a film without its fun moments, but it can be a challenge when the almost two-hour runtime drags quite a bit at times. The film really takes a good 45 minutes or so to just set up and then feels like it is rushing through things towards the end. 

Does the script do the film any favors? That is a tricky element to process. The film takes a long time to set up its characters and the fateful moments that changed all their lives. But unfortunately, the characters still feel quite one-dimensional. The film also takes a long time to really deliver on any real danger to the core characters. Sure, there is some butchering of other, minor characters for most of the film, but the film lacks real stake until much later. There are only a few characters with any real sense of personality including a wild and free-spirited murder podcaster which the film really wastes and under-utilizes. This is basically the whole same set up of the original film but at least that is leveraged into the motivations and actions of the characters including the Fisherman killer themselves. There are some twists that make sense in context, but the script undermines the real impact but telegraphing them too much leaves them less surprising than they could have. The usage of the legacy characters is strange as they either feel like an after-thought or how they are incorporated just might upset a lot of the fans of the franchise. 

Does the cast at least deliver along the way? From the central group of five, there are only two performances that feel memorable in any way. Chase Sui Wonders is basically the protagonist of the film as well as the moral compass to this group (as the only one who didn’t want to bail on their poor unexpecting victim). Wonders builds good empathy and feels a lot more authentic than most of the cast. Madelyn Cline is the hot friend (as the Gellar stand-in this time around) and she is legitimately funny throughout and has such a silly demeanor that she is entertaining to watch. The most unique performance in the whole film is from musician Gabbriette, who portrays the murder podcaster. Sexy, funny, mysterious, and a little weird. She is grossly underutilized but makes an impact when she is there. Prinze Jr. and Hewitt are nostalgic additions but neither of them are given material to really work with (just a bunch of lazy referential bits of dialogue). They at least do their best with it. 

Was this legacy sequel worth the way? Not really. You can just go back and rewatch (or watch for the first time) the original. There are too many flaws to make this a truly effective experience. I Know What You Did Last Summer is a rocky road, but genre fans will probably still find some enjoyable elements along the way.