2003's Freaky Friday was a childhood staple. When I think of the movies I would most often find on TV, ripe for endless re-watching, I think of Lindsay Lohan and Jaime Lee Curtis screaming in each other's faces. The first movie is iconic, so I was naturally a bit nervous about the decision to make a sequel more than two decades later. And yet, from the very beginning of the Nisha Ginatra directed movie, I felt nothing but sheer delight at seeing Lohan and Curtis reunited on screen, doing the thing they do best, give their all to a hilarious body swap premise.
The familiar beats of the previous story are all here, but Ginatra and screenwriter Jordan Weiss supply enough twists to keep it from being a boring retread. Onetime rebellious punk rocker Anna has now matured into a mom prone to therapy speak while Curtis's Tess is channeling her own motherly instincts into her granddaughter Harper played by Julia Butters. Even if Anna and Tess's most intense conflicts have long since settled, there is still discord among the women in the Coleman family. After being a single mother for all of Harper's life, Anna falls head over heels for Eric, a chef with a pampered daughter, Lily, who doesn't get along with Harper at all. With Anna and Eric's wedding looming, along with the possibility of the whole family moving to London, where Eric and Lily are from, tensions are running high between all four ladies.
Enter a seriously overachieving psychic played by Vanessa Bayer, who foresees that all they need is a change of heart and perhaps a change of body, too. As funny as Bayer is, it does make Freakier Friday a bit cornier than before. The next morning, Harper and Anna discover they've swapped places, and even more hilariously, Lily and Tess have as well. Curtis gets some excellent laughs right out of the gate as she, as the teenage Lily, gamely reacts with horror at her older physique. Harper and Lily see an opportunity to break up the impending wedding, while Anna and Tess just want to put an end to all the swapping.
Freakier Friday branches out in two different directions as the story follows both pairs on their inevitable, predictable, but no less heartwarming journeys of friendship and understanding. Unsurprisingly, the more entertaining thread is the one that features Lohan and Curtis. Not only do their characters have a richer conflict to explore as Harper and Lily team up, but both actors get an excellent showcase for their comedic talents. They work together brilliantly as dueling mother and daughter and now they get a completely new dynamic to portray and it's thrilling to see.
The greatest strength of Freakier Friday is how it balances the hilarity with the heartfelt giving practically every character the chance to get real and deepen their connections. As I really sat with the movie as the credits rolled, I wondered if one character's growth got a bit shortchanged by the end. But with such a triumphant, nostalgic climax, it's easy to breeze over. Freakier Friday has all the hallmarks of an early 2000's teen comedy, albeit with a 2025 sheen. As a result, it's a legacy sequel done right. Freakier Friday honors the original movie that paved the way. The Pink Slip reunion is just as joyful as one would hope while telling a new story that gives fresh layers to the characters we know and love. As Lohan's long-awaited return to the big screen and reunion with Curtis, it's a crowdpleasing delight.