TL;DR: Freakier Friday nails the balance between heartfelt and hilarious, letting Lohan and Curtis run wild while introducing a new crop of chaos agents. Nostalgic without being lazy, this is the body-swap sequel we didn’t know we needed.

Back in the Body-Swap Trenches

There’s a certain smell to the early 2000s teen comedy era. A strange, intoxicating blend of Bath & Body Works cucumber melon spray, Hot Topic incense, and the faint whiff of overused hair straighteners at a middle school dance.

That smell is Freaky Friday to me.

When the Lindsay Lohan/Jamie Lee Curtis version came out, it was more than a Disney remake. It was a cultural fixture. You didn’t have to own the DVD (though, of course, I did). It was just always on. Some Saturday afternoons, you’d catch it halfway through on cable, and that was fine — you could drop in anywhere, because the beats were tattooed onto your brain: the Chinese restaurant, the electric guitar solo, the pink streaks in Anna’s hair, Jamie Lee Curtis shouting “I’M OLD!” with a desperation that was both hilarious and slightly existential.

It was the body-swap movie that didn’t just swap bodies — it swapped coolness between two actresses in a way that made you believe it could happen.

So when Disney announced a sequel — Freakier Friday — over twenty years later, I had two immediate, conflicting thoughts:

1. This could be a cash-grab trainwreck.
2. If they pull this off, I will cry in the theater.

The good news? They pulled it off. And while I didn’t quite cry, I did get dangerously misty-eyed at one particular callback I’ll get to later.

Old Beats, New Moves

Nisha Ganatra’s Freakier Friday understands that nostalgia is a spice, not the main course. The bones of the original are here: generational clash, absurd hijinks, heartfelt reconciliation. But screenwriter Jordan Weiss, building on a story with Elyse Hollander, knows better than to just hit “copy and paste.”

Anna (Lohan), the rebellious teen of 2003, is now a mom herself — older, wiser, and occasionally slipping into therapy-speak like someone who has spent too much time on parenting podcasts. Tess (Curtis) has pivoted her maternal instincts toward granddaughter Harper (Julia Butters), a precocious teen with more emotional insight than most adults.

The dynamic is immediately different. The old friction between Anna and Tess has mellowed into something warmer — they’re allies now, but they still have their own stubborn streaks. And then comes the catalyst: Anna’s engagement to Eric (Manny Jacinto, radiating dreamboat energy) and the arrival of his pampered, London-born daughter Lily (Sophia Hammons). Harper and Lily despise each other instantly. Which, of course, is the perfect recipe for psychic interference.

The Swap — This Time, It’s Personal

The psychic meddler this time is played by Vanessa Bayer, whose performance is peak “unhinged Etsy seller who might also curse your aura.” It’s a sillier device than the first film’s mysterious Chinese mother/daughter duo (Rosalind Chao and Lucille Soong do pop in for nostalgic cameos), but it’s also cleaner — the original’s cultural framing hasn’t aged well, and Freakier Friday sidesteps that entirely.

Instead of just one swap, the sequel doubles down: Anna and Harper switch bodies, and Tess and Lily swap as well. Suddenly, Lindsay Lohan is playing a teenager again, Jamie Lee Curtis is inhabiting a posh, bratty teen body, and chaos is not just inevitable — it’s the point.

The movie wisely lets Curtis and Lohan off the leash. Curtis, as Lily-in-Tess’s-body, nails the physical comedy of a teen horrified to wake up in a fifty-something frame. Lohan, as Harper-in-Anna’s-body, gets to channel awkward adolescence through the lens of a parent’s life, and it’s a joy watching her rediscover that spark she had in the 2000s.

Two Threads, One Winner

The film splits into two main threads:

1. The teens-in-adult-bodies trying to derail the wedding.
2. The adults-in-teen-bodies trying to reverse the swap.

Both work, but let’s be honest: Curtis and Lohan are the main event. Their shared scenes pop with the kind of chemistry you can’t fake. They’ve both clearly relished the chance to reinvent their dynamic from the first film.

A highlight? A detour to track down Anna’s high school crush, Jake (yes, Chad Michael Murray is back, and yes, he’s still leaning against things in that way that made half a generation swoon). The scene is part slapstick, part bittersweet — Curtis fumbles through a hilariously awkward flirtation, Lohan navigates her own embarrassment, and somewhere in between, the movie finds a surprisingly tender note.

The Kids Are Alright (and Occasionally Brilliant)

Julia Butters and Sophia Hammons could have been overshadowed by their legendary co-stars, but they hold their own. Butters’ knack for quick shifts between comedy and vulnerability is especially sharp here, and Hammons sells the “posh teen to doting grandma” transition with understated charm. Their side of the story isn’t as laugh-out-loud funny, but it’s the glue that keeps the emotional stakes intact.

Callbacks Done Right

Ganatra understands that nostalgia should be earned. The Pink Slip reunion? Earned. Quick cameos from familiar faces? Earned. Even Mark Harmon’s Ryan shows up in a way that actually matters to the plot rather than just waving to the audience.

The best callbacks don’t just wink at the past — they twist it. Moments from the original are mirrored or inverted, giving them a fresh angle while still triggering that hit of “oh, I remember this.”

A 2000s Comedy with 2025 Polish

Ganatra’s direction keeps things brisk without feeling rushed. She knows when to let the jokes breathe and when to punch up the chaos. There’s a glossy, streaming-era sheen to the visuals, but tonally, it’s pure early-2000s Disney comedy — just with sharper dialogue and more inclusive sensibilities.

The humor is broader in places, yes, but Freakier Friday isn’t trying to be subtle. It’s trying to be fun. And it is.

Verdict: Freaky, Fun, and Fiercely Nostalgic

This could have been a disaster. Instead, it’s a legacy sequel done exactly right — honoring the original without embalming it, giving its stars room to shine, and introducing a new generation of characters who can carry the chaos forward.

It’s a joy to see Lohan back on the big screen, a thrill to watch her and Curtis spark off each other again, and a reminder that sometimes, the best way to revisit a classic is to just… get a little freakier.