It’s been 28 years since that vengeful hook-handed killer targeted Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.), and their friends—but 29 since the hit-and-run that set their misery in motion. In the new I Know What You Did Last Summer, a direct sequel to 1998’s I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (the one set in the Bahamas), Julie and Ray are back, though the focus is clearly on the next generation of good-looking kids who haven’t yet learned the importance of taking responsibility for their mistakes.
A new trailer hammers that in, with hook (again) as well as other weapons and terrorizing tactics:
The structure of the guilty parties being picked off one by one is familiar, as is the beachside setting. What’s most intriguing about this sequel from director and co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) is how it looks to use the Julie and Ray characters much like 2018’s Halloween deployed Jamie Lee Curtis’ haunted but still badass Laurie Strode. They don’t want to face the violence in their pasts—but when it comes knocking, they’re more than ready to step in and help the kids who fucked up just like they did try to survive.
Nice touch having Julie repeat her famous line, too—in a very different tone of voice.
Also: what’s with the copycat hook-handed killer? Is it just local custom to wait a year after a hit-and-run, then put on the fisherman’s costume and start targeting those responsible? What’s wrong with the people of Southport to come up with that weird idea in the first place?
The new cast includes Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks), Chase Sui Wonders (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Jonah Hauer-King (Doctor Who), Tyriq Withers (Atlanta), Sarah Pidgeon (The Friend), and more. Maybe don’t get too attached to any of their characters, though.
I Know What You Did Last Summer arrives July 18.
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