For me, watching Freakier Friday — the new sequel to the 2003 body-switch comedy starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis — led to a change in perspective: I was now a fan of two Freaky Friday movies headlined by Lohan and Curtis.
From Curtis’ nostalgic and still-hilarious portrayal of waking up as a 15-year-old inhabiting her step-grandmother’s body to entertaining scenes with a job-switching fortune teller (Saturday Night Live alum Vanessa Bayer), the sequel offers wacky and laugh-out-loud moments. It wouldn’t work without the commitment of its stars, Curtis and Lohan. Lucky for viewers, the returning duo is evidently all in for the bigger, sillier and yes, freakier, follow-up.
Freakier Friday hits theaters on Friday, 22 years after the first movie. This time, two adults and two teens are involved in the body-swapping chaos. The main cast includes the pop star manager and single mom Anna (Lohan), who’s 36 in the Freaky Friday-verse. There’s also Anna’s daughter Harper (Julia Butters) and Harper’s doting psychologist grandma, Tess (Curtis). Thanks to a meet-cute at the girls’ school, the family unit is expanding to include Anna’s chef fiancé, Eric (Manny Jacinto), and Eric’s daughter, Lily (Sophia Hammons).
Harper and Lily’s status as mortal enemies complicates the soon-to-be blended family. There’s also the critical detail of where the familial unit will end up — the girls are awaiting a decision on whether they will move back to Eric and Lily’s London home base or stay in Los Angeles. When inevitable fortune-teller meddling and body-swapping occurs — Lily switches with Tess and mother Anna trades places with daughter Harper — the teens realize they can use their new bodies to break up their parents.
I didn’t grow up with Freaky Friday, but I can understand the appeal of the early 2000s film. Lohan’s young Anna is as cool as it gets, from her punk outfits to her garage band with friends. Her mom doesn’t understand her issues at school and her passion for music. Anna doesn’t fully accept the relationship between her mom and soon-to-be stepdad. It takes body-switching for Anna and Tess to appreciate what they had been missing about each other.
Of course, in Freakier Friday, Anna’s now-teen daughter doesn’t see her as that effortless rock star. Anna’s band, Pink Slip, achieved some fame, and Anna now works with a popular musical artist — it takes Harper seeing that firsthand to register how exceptional her mom is. In Freakier Friday, being a teenager is depicted in a cringier light, from bedroom door notices that say “no triggering” to gluten-free requirements at high-school bake sales.
I enjoyed some of the references to the first movie — and there are many. I particularly liked the continuation of heartthrob Jake’s (Chad Michael Murray) obsession with one of the first film’s stars and scenes like the body-switch reveal that felt playfully exaggerated. The energy from Lohan and Curtis makes revisiting some of the same jokes fun. However, the movie packs in copious cameos — bringing back virtually every supporting character from the first movie — an element I found kind of tiring. There are no doubt references I missed upon first viewing.
The mother-daughter quest feels familiar, but adding another teen to the mix means that those two also have to figure out each other. Lohan and Curtis seem to get more screen time as bickering, scheming teens, and I had a blast following them around LA. Make no mistake, it’s Lohan and Curtis’ movie — I admittedly at one point forgot who was who in the teen bodies. Curtis doesn’t shy away from jokes at her expense; one scene where she reluctantly grabs items from the “senior supplies” section of a store is particularly memorable.
The film’s wrap-up feels rushed and underwhelming. Still, the addition of the strained relationship between two teens refreshes the plot, and the message about understanding and empathy makes an impact. Lohan and Curtis steal the show, and it’s a joy to see Lohan pick up the guitar 22 years later.