Freakier Friday is one of the most surprising films of the year. What easily could have been a cash grab or a drop on Disney+ turned out to be a heartfelt and hilarious comedy worthy of the big screen.

Disney’s Freaky Friday was released in 2003 and is an iconic film for Millennials and older Gen-Z. Despite my initial presumption that it was a Disney Channel original movie, it actually grossed over $100 million domestically, a baffling concept in today’s film world. 22 years later, its sequel, Freakier Friday, has made its debut. This easily could’ve been nostalgia slop, regurgitating the same movie again, just in a modern setting. The excessive time between entries actually led to a brilliant situation where the sequel would have something new to say. Freakier Friday doubles the body-switching chaos and focuses on a new family dynamic that required Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis to be significantly older than before to accomplish. 

While the original Freaky Friday dealt with Anna (Lohan) learning to come to terms with her mother Tess’s (Curtis) new husband, Freakier Friday steps it up a notch. Now, the catch is how to blend a family when the children are complete opposites and despise each other. Anna is a single mother of Harper (Julia Butters), and Eric Reyes (Manny Jacinto) is the widower father of Lily (Sophia Hammons). They attend the same school as freshmen, but when their parents experience love at first sight at a parents’ meeting after the girls get in trouble, it is their worst nightmare. It’s a whirlwind romance. Only six months later, their parents are set to marry. Beyond being enemies, Lily wants to go back to England, and Harper wants her mom to stay in Los Angeles. When a low-rent psychic ends up palm-reading the four of them at Anna’s bachelorette party, she accidentally curses them, and the next morning, they are all switched around. Anna is in Harper’s body and Tess is in Lily’s body, and vice versa. Now that they are in the adults’ bodies, the girls can scheme together to have the wedding cancelled. 

Freakier Friday was rescued from the sinkhole that is Disney+ because this is a movie worth seeing with an audience. My theater was cracking up consistently, and so was I. The body switch comedy is an eternally funny concept. There are hilarious and specific generational differences that got a big laugh, particularly with my own mother. This is a must-watch for mothers and daughters of all generations. It is a joyous film, from the audience reactions to the filmmakers and actors. You can feel how much fun everyone on set was having. While some gags and jokes were clearly planned, there is a looseness and fun energy to the performances that likely comes from allowing the actors the space to play. Also, with a big release gap between sequels, it can end up feeling like the modern period is being pushed down your throat to an annoying level. There is an inherent heightening due to its zany premise, but it still felt genuine and on tone.

While Jamie Lee Curtis is having a renaissance moment in her career right now, this is a huge comeback for Lindsay Lohan. While it’s great to see she has carved her niche in the streaming world on Netflix, seeing her leading a big theatrical comedy is a delight. And she still has the juice! Although she has transitioned to the mom role, she is still so cool. This will hopefully lead to more roles in projects that aren’t sequels or adaptations of her previous (iconic) work. As for Curtis, she once again kills it. Tess switched bodies with Lily, so she gets to play a character outside of the Coleman family, and she gets to be bratty and glamorous, as Lily is a fashionista. Her chemistry with Chad Michael Murray hasn’t faded one bit, but she and Mark Harmon still look great together. Curtis could easily think that doing this role again is beneath her, but she is still as dedicated as she can be. 

Learning that Julia Butters played Anna’s daughter was a brutal awakening of how much I’ve aged since her breakout role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. She does an excellent job playing surfer teen Harper. Sophia Hammons, who plays Lily, is fabulous, too, in her theatrical film debut. Playing the part of the adults isn’t as fun as the adults playing children, but they have their funny moments. As for our love interest, casting Manny Jacinto as Eric was a great choice because I can believe someone would marry him after only knowing him for six months. He’s charming and ridiculously nice. Although the accent goes in and out occasionally, it’s not terribly distracting. And finally, Chad Michael Murray feels like a blast from the past, but a pleasant surprise. The character easily could have been a jerk or a menace, but the direction the writers took Jake was much better. Instead, they made it so Murray’s comedic chops could shine. 

Overall, so much of the film worked well. The one aspect that was fun but didn’t fully work was the plot line where Anna’s singer client, Ella (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), is going through a breakup with her ex, who is also a singer. Ella is obsessed with Anna’s previous band, Pink Slip, and one song she wrote specifically. Her being a part of the film helps set up the big finale, which is a cute scene, but was perhaps the most contrived aspect of the story. It is similar to the Freaky Friday finale, but that one laid the groundwork better, and we knew the finale had a bigger meaning. Also, in Freaky Friday, the switch happens because the mom of the owner of the Chinese restaurant gives them fortune cookies. She had good intentions and a sweet demeanor. Madame Jen (Vanessa Bayer), the psychic responsible for the body switch, teetered on being irritating, although her grifter multi-hyphenate running joke was good.

Freakier Friday is one of the most surprising films of the year. What easily could have been a cash grab or a drop on Disney+ turned out to be a heartfelt and hilarious comedy worthy of the big screen. Although it is a good pick for anyone, it is a must for any mother-daughter duo. It’s also the perfect time to see it because right now the world could learn a lesson in empathy, which is what these Freaky Friday films are all about. This is a worthy sequel to the classic Disney film

Grade: B+

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should Be Considered: None

Where to Watch: In Theaters