The 1997 film, I Know What You Did Last Summer, directed by Jim Gillespie, has recently received a legacy sequel directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, released on July 18, 2025. However, despite the callback towards the original from 1997, it left many fans wanting more and leaving the theater disappointed.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) takes place in the fictional city of Southport, North Carolina. The movie follows a group of friends from high school: Danica Richards, Ava Brucks, Teddy Spencer, Stevie Ward, and Milo Griffin–played by Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, and Jonah Hauer-King– trying to cover up a fatal accident they had caused late at night. However, someone ends up discovering their secret and hunts them down a year later, one by one, removing anyone who gets in the way of the process. As the group fights to discover who is behind the massacre, while also fighting to stay alive, they come to discover that the threat is a little closer to home than they suspected.
The 2025 movie shares a lot of the same key plot details as the original 1997 movie. Including some of the same cast. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. both return, reprising their roles as Julie James and Ray Bronson. Along with a similar cast, the plot is almost identical to the original movie, having just changed the characters and the killer. This worked for many people who had watched the movie, but left many other fans upset.
What left many fans upset and disappointed was the movie leaning too much on nostalgia rather than a good, original, strong movie to continue the series. The movie consists of many callbacks towards the original, including some references only fans would understand compared to first-time viewers. But fans also left thinking the plot was not as strong as it needed to be, with many finding the killer’s motivations “weak” and “poor.”
Despite the plot, the movie had positive aspects that fans appreciated. As mentioned, fans who enjoy the nostalgic aspect had a great time viewing, with callbacks and returning characters. Apart from the original characters, the new actors did a fantastic job playing their characters and portraying the story.
Regardless of the weak plot and uneven tone of the movie, overall, the movie was loved and hated equally amongst its audience. Many critics believed it was a tired and derivative legacy sequel that fails to offer anything new, while others appreciated the nostalgia and fun aspects brought in. But still, critics refer to it as a “forgettable entry.” The new I Know What You Did Last Summer left many wanting more and unsatisfied with the long-awaited sequel.
