On most lists of “Best Body-Swap Movies,” you’ll find 2003’s Freaky Friday at, or near, the top. And for good reason: Mark Waters’ adaptation of Mary Rodgers’ 1972 novel of the same name might have been the third movie (including the 1976 Jodie Foster vehicle) to tackle the source material, but it’s easily the most definitive one. A breezy, wildly entertaining showcase for rising star Lindsay Lohan and established star Jamie Lee Curtis (who famously filled in at the last minute), 2003’s Freaky Friday was quickly accepted as a classic in the family film echelon.
So how do you follow that up? By making a sequel that is, for all intents and purposes, a beat-for-beat recreation of the original, with some new Gen Z buzzwords thrown in and a frantic pace befitting the generation raised on TikTok. But despite impressively game performances from both Lohan and Curtis, and a frothy-sweet charm, Freakier Friday never emerges from the shadow of its predecessor.
