Freakier Friday Review
Amidst an endless release schedule of money-grab remakes, live-action adaptations and sequels, Nisha Ganatra‘s Freakier Friday boldly defies expectations, as a vibrant, uproarious and full-of-heart follow up to its cult classic counterpart Freaky Friday, which released in 2003. The sequel reunites us with beloved pop culture mother/daughter duo Tess and Anna Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan), 22 years after their fortune-cookie-fuelled body swap, nights before Tess’s wedding.
Two decades later and Tess Coleman is a successful psychiatrist, author, and amateur podcaster (she’s still figuring out how to press record). Anna, now a single mother to her die-hard surfer teen daughter Harper (Julia Butters) has reluctantly packed away her electric guitar and now acts as manager for upcoming popstar Ella (scene-stealer Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.)
When Harper’s rivalry with British transfer ‘It-Girl’ Lily (newcomer Sophia Hammons) explodes — quite literally — Anna meets Lily’s dad, charming chef and fellow single parent, Eric Reyes (Manny Jacinto), it is love at first sight. But as wedding preparations ramp up, tensions between mothers and daughters escalate, laying the scene for another lighting strike body-swap.
Now let me set my scene: It’s 10am on a Monday morning and I was out the night before. I’m exhausted from yet another week at work, and I am wandering around the lavish and brightly lit Soho Hotel, underdressed, under-caffeinated and unprepared for the belly laughs I was about to receive.
Lighting strikes. Tess is Lily. Lily is Tess. Anna is Harper. Harper is Anna. And I, alongside the twenty-strong, bright-eyed, coffee clutching audience members are howling with laughter. Chappell Roan and the Spice Girls pop hits underscore the chaos, as the quartet descend into genuine madness over their switch-up. JLC is screaming into the mirror on repeat that she’s decaying, Hammons is rolling on the floor, and punchy one-liners, including “At least your body didn’t wake up with arthritis” bring this sequel to life.
Thrashing down Hollywood Boulevard in flashy cars and outrageous outfits, flirting fails with both young and old, (I’m looking at you Chad Michael Murray) and a tribute to Thelma and Louise that did not go unnoticed, Freakier Friday sees JLC and Lohan at their comedic best. The two truly meet their match with Butters and Hammons, who tackle the behemoth acting task of portraying Tess and Anna with a physicality and humour that was a splendor to watch.
Whilst comedy is the surface genre, the film is bursting with heart, as our leading quartet face the myriad of challenges that come with the union of family. Learning to love ourselves beyond our professions and parenthood, forging bonds with new family whilst commemorating those we’ve lost and embracing new and unfamiliar environments. Freakier Friday handles these universal experiences with emotional maturity and joy, encouraging audiences to embrace change, pursuit their passions against the odds, and lean on those we love because “Family isn’t easy, but family is everything.”
Yes, the film takes a tried and tested formulaic plot-device and delivers on all the gags we’d expect, but the strength of this sequel is in it’s ability to balance that classic body-swap comedy whilst also divulging into real life problems and ultimately inspiring hope in its audiences.
Wiping my nostalgic tears away, I left my screening and immediately called my mum to tell her three things: Lindsay Lohan is a rockstar, Jamie Lee Curtis is rib-achingly hilarious. And Mum, if you read this — I choose you every time.
★★★★
In UK Cinemas August 8th / Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons, Mark Harmon, Manny Jacinto,Maitreyi Ramakrishnan / Chad Michael Murray / Dir. Nisha Ganatra / Disney / PG
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