Review: ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ knows how to hook an audience
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ acknowledges its origins, while also creating a new generation of victims and survivors.
Doing stupid things is a part of being young. But sometimes dangerous behaviour can have irreversible consequences. How one handles these incidents builds character… or destroys your life. It’s one thing to try to deal with a life-changing event yourself, but another when someone doesn’t want you to move on from it. These vigilante revenge stories make up a thriller subgenre in which a group of people is murdered in response to some awful thing they did. Now, someone is following an almost 30-year-old playbook to make a group of young people pay for their transgression in I Know What You Did Last Summer.
After going their separate ways after school, Ava (Chase Sui Wonders) and Milo (Jonah Hauer-King) return to their little seaside town for their best friends’ engagement party. Teddy (Tyriq Withers) and Danica (Madelyn Cline) are convinced their happy occasion will reignite the flame between their friends. The reunion is completed when their estranged friend, Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon), joins the group for 4th of July fireworks at their favourite spot. Unfortunately, foolish antics turn out to be not so harmless and they suddenly find themselves covering up a fatal accident. A year later, when they reunite once again, their joy is deflated by an anonymous note ominously declaring, “I know what you did last summer,” followed by a series of murders.
In 1997, a desperate young woman stood in the middle of a suburban neighbourhood and yelled, “What are you waiting for?” creating a moment immortalized in the cultural zeitgeist. Not to mention two of the actors also married in real-life after meeting on set. Now, some familiar faces from those pictures are making an entrance as they return to help a new generation of would-be victims try to stay off the fisherman’s hook. Part sequel, part reboot, the new group of friends will seem very familiar as they check off the same stereotypical boxes as their predecessors.
The title flashes across the screen in a Fear Street-inspired, 1980s slasher font, immediately acknowledging the history of horror thrillers that came before it. The film has fun with the fact that it’s the second sequel to a picture that was released nearly 30 years ago, while also finding occasions to pay homage to the original, as well as the meta-slasher that spawned it, Scream. This movie doesn’t follow exactly the same pattern as its predecessors, but astute horror aficionados will see the clues and probably solve the mystery before the big reveal.
Sometimes viewers will laugh at the characters’ absurdity and most of the time it’s intentional. It doesn’t try to take itself as seriously as the first movie, almost pausing to permit the audience a moment to chuckle when someone in the group says or does something predictable or dumb. On the other end of the spectrum, the murders are drawn out and vicious as victims are chased and taunted before being brutally dispatched. But this horror picture doesn’t experience the same pitfall as many other genre films by only extending the scenes with would-be women victims – in this movie, the men get their time to scream and beg for their lives too.
Co-writer and director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson finds the right balance between horror, comedy and paying tribute to those that came before. The mid-credit scene continues this trend, providing an even better conclusion than the official ending that precedes it.
Director: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Starring: Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders and Jonah Hauer-King