When “Freaky Friday” hit theaters in 2003 (I say as if I were there, even though I was born two years later), it quickly became a classic — at least in my house.
Lindsay Lohan, embodying 16-year-old Anna Coleman’s teenage angst with both charm and bite, and Jamie Lee Curtis, playing Anna’s hardworking author and psychologist mom, Tess Coleman, had instant chemistry. The movie made the body swap gimmick an early 2000s gem.
Now, over two decades later, Disney has reunited Lohan and Curtis for a sequel – “Freakier Friday.”
The main question I asked myself going into this one, after a couple disappointing sequels to Disney classics (“Disenchanted,” “Hocus Pocus 2”), was: Does this one actually work?
Short answer: yes. Here’s why.
With Lohan’s long-awaited Hollywood comeback in recent years and Curtis’s career renaissance, alongside younger stars Julia Butters (playing Harper Coleman) and Sophia Hammons (playing Lily Reyes), the film doubles as a nostalgia trip for longtime fans and a passing of the torch to Disney’s next generation.
“Freakier Friday” finds Tess and Anna at very different stages of life from the last time we saw them. Anna is now balancing single motherhood with her career as a star music producer, and Tess is a grandmother who occasionally oversteps to bond more with her granddaughter, Harper.
Much like Tess’ wedding in the 2003 film, Anna’s upcoming marriage to the father of Harper’s nemesis complicates their already strained relationship. Thus, the body-swap chaos kicks in once again.
Tess, Anna, Harper and Harper’s classroom nemesis Lily all get tangled in the mix-up, which leads to body-swap chaos that plays out across classrooms, recording studios and wedding aisles.
What makes “Freakier Friday” work for me, where sequels like “Disenchanted” and “Hocus Pocus 2” didn’t, is that it doesn't just coast on nostalgia. Sure, there are some callbacks to Lohan’s early career (including a sly “Mean Girls” reference that had me grinning), but the sequel gave its characters room to grow.
Curtis brings the same boundless energy she brought in 2003 but Lohan’s performance as Anna felt more grounded and revitalized, almost mirroring her own comeback in real life. Lohan took a years-long hiatus from Hollywood due to personal struggles and legal issues in the wake of her early 2000s fame. But she’s back and, dare I say, better than ever.
Butters shines as Harper, making her more than just a snarky Gen Z character. Hammons as Lily adds a fun counterpart, letting the audience see how the swap affects friendship as much as familial bonds.
The humor is sharper than expected, too. Instead of recycling old jokes, the movie finds laughs in generational tech divides, helicopter parenting and some good old cheesy flirting. Some jokes land better than others, but they never drag.
Of course, there are a few spots where “Freakier Friday” missed the mark. Anna’s fiance Eric, played by Manny Jacinto, seemed more like a plot device than a fully fleshed out person, and I would’ve loved to have seen more about his relationship with Anna or Lily.
The core four (Curtis, Lohan, Butters, Hammon) carry the movie — as they should — but some of the extended cast felt more like filler for the plot than actual characters.
Ultimately, “Freakier Friday” is a good sequel — and one I will be adding to my monthly Disney Plus binges once it lands on streaming. It’s heartwarming to watch Curtis and Lohan slip back into their roles and grow up with their audience. Honestly, the freakiest part to me is Disney actually getting a sequel right.
Contact Aaliyah Evertz at aevertz@alligator.org. Follow her on X @aaliyahevertz1
