‘I Know What You Did Final Summer time’: a pointless slasher reboot

In a summer time dominated by remakes, a rebooted I Know What You Did Final Summer time shouldn’t come as a lot of a shock. The unique 1997 movie was a part of a slasher horror growth that dominated the second half of the last decade. Like a basic cinema serial killer, it was solely a matter of time earlier than the franchise returned for extra slaughter.

Set 27 years after a bunch of teenagers have been hunted down by a mysterious fisherman with a hook, in search of revenge for a hit-and-run killing one yr prior, I Know What You Did Final Summer time comes house to Southport. Right here, we meet rich lovebirds Danica (Madelyn Cline) and Teddy (Tyriq Withers) who’re celebrating their engagement with Danica’s greatest good friend Ava (Chase Sui Wonders), her ex Milo (Jonah Hauer-King) and their estranged pal Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon).

Predictably, a joyride ends with one other motorist driving off a cliff. Regardless of Ava’s protests, the group flee the scene of the crime and use their social connections to cowl up any ties to the tragedy. Nonetheless, precisely one yr later, all 4 obtain messages that learn: “I do know what you probably did final summer time”. Fearing they could be the goal of a copycat killer, they search out the survivors of the 1997 killings (Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Julie James and Freddie Prinze Jr.’s Ray Bronson) to assist them get off the fisherman’s beforehand talked about hook.

However the actual thriller right here is why this movie has even been made within the first place. Whereas the primary movie has a cult following, it’s not precisely a masterpiece and its legacy rides closely on the coattails of Scream’s success. Wes Craven’s 1996 basic has the humour, intelligence and self-awareness to offer latest reboots one thing to play off however there’s nothing deeper at work inside I Know What You Did Final Summer time.

The 2025 instalment is a painful retread of its predecessor, with surface-level updates made to seem fashionable. The group are joined by a real crime podcaster (performed by Matty Healy’s mannequin fiancé and Charli XCX’s mate Gabbriette Bechtel), there’s some half-hearted preaching about monetary privilege and the dialogue feels prefer it was written by ChatGPT badly imitating a youngster. Oh, and the baddie has a few new weapons – however that’s about as revolutionary because it will get.

Not one of the new era are particularly attention-grabbing both. Danica is a spoiled princess who channels Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Helen Shivers (who makes a cameo regardless of being killed off within the unique) and Ava is positioned because the ‘Ultimate Lady’ however does little to impression the course of the film. At instances, you’ll even be rooting for the villain.

As for the returning OG forged, neither Hewitt nor Prinze are given a lot to work with. Launched as a now-divorced couple nonetheless traumatised by what occurred to them and with nowhere new for them to go, it’s all a bit miserable.

Our collective tolerance for gore has risen through the years so the murders are bloodier than earlier than however they lack creativity or suspense. For a horror, it’s simply not very scary. There’s a twist within the story, however the predictable reveal can be apparent to anybody paying the slightest little bit of consideration and it’ll go away you with extra questions than solutions. This awkward by-the-numbers slasher wouldn’t have stood as much as scrutiny three many years in the past and falls desperately quick in an period the place elevated horror has turn into the norm.