I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) Review

 

So we've got a new I Know What You Did Last Summer movie. Fingers crossed it's a lot better than the last one, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. And if any of you didn't know that one existed, do yourself a favor and avoid it at all cost. Trust me.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) is a slasher movie and the fourth movie in the franchise. It's produced by both Columbia Pictures and Original Films with distribution by Sony Pictures Releasing. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson directed and wrote the story along with Sam Lansky.

The story is, five friends unintentionally killed an innocent pedestrian with their car and during their panic they covered up their mistake. One year later, as they try to move on they each get a message by a stalker saying he knows what they did. They soon realize the stalker is copying a legendary serial killer, and the group's only hope is the survivors from the original 1997 massacre.

Initial Reaction

I remember when I first watched the first Last Summer film. I believe it was 2002 and it was on TNT, and I actually enjoyed it and today I still enjoy it. Then there was the sequel which was alright, and the less said about the third movie the better. So when I heard about this newest one I was interested and I'd figured I give it a chance. I mean there's no way it can be worse than I'll Always Know.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

Let's start off with the story. Mainly the whodunit element. Firstly, I still liked the overall story. I thought it was very entertaining. Having said that the mystery is something you'll figure pretty quickly. There really only a select few who could possibly be the killer and some red herrings were more obvious than others. Then there's characters. Now Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddy Prinze Jr. do play some big roles in the story and aren't just cameos. So thankfully their characters do feel properly used. But then we have the new characters those being Ava, Danica, Milo, Teddy, and Stevie. Honestly I thought they were okay. Some are giving some depth like Danica who's grieving over her fiancé's death but it's kinda surface level, while others you're just expecting them die pretty soon. Speaking of depth, I do appreciate the movie trying to tackle themes, the biggest one being trauma. It did add layer to the story, but I don't think they dived as deep into has much as they could've.

Pros

The first thing I'll credit is the pacing. Some parts could be a little bit slow, but for the majority of the runtime this is a breeze to get through. The last thing I'll credit is the slasher element. While it's great to have horror films that aren't just typical blood and guts and instead focus on deeper story elements. But sometimes you do just want a horror movie where a psycho goes around killing people in very creative ways. You just want that fun element, and I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) is that fun slasher movie.

Well by no means flawless, this still had some entertainment to be had. And it's a hell of a lot better than I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. Sorry I keep bringing that one up but man was it mind-numbingly stupid.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's all for now. Come back on Monday, Jul 21st, for another edition of my brand new segment, Fan Film Mondays. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.