Review by Jon Donnis
Twenty-seven years after the events in Southport first unfolded, I Know What You Did Last Summer returns with a new generation of guilt-ridden teens, a familiar hook-wielding killer, and just enough blood-soaked nostalgia to keep things afloat. Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, this fourth entry in the franchise slots itself directly after I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, brushing off the largely forgotten 2006 and 2021 entries and re-establishing continuity with a vengeance.
The setup is almost charming in its familiarity: a group of friends are involved in a late-night accident and choose to cover it up rather than face the fallout. A year later, they're picked off one by one by a killer who's very much in the know. There's no reinvention here, and the film leans into that deliberately. Robinson aims for the same glossy, lurid tone that made the '90s slashers so watchable, and to her credit, she mostly pulls it off.
Chase Sui Wonders anchors the film well as Ava Brucks, a slightly more grounded and thoughtful protagonist than some of the past franchise leads. She returns to Southport just in time to watch her closest friends unravel, starting with a cryptic note and ending with a series of brutal murders. Madelyn Cline is solid too as Danica, the bride-to-be who takes a particularly bloody journey from carefree party girl to blood-soaked survivor.
The film really earns its keep when it comes to the kills. There's an energy to the violence here that horror fans will appreciate. They're nasty, drawn out, and satisfyingly practical in a way that recalls the heyday of early 2000s horror. A scene in the now-shuttered Shiver's department store is especially strong, both for the way it taps into franchise lore and the way it builds tension before things go full carnage.
The return of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. could have felt gimmicky, but actually ends up giving the story a bit more texture. Julie James is now a university professor who wants nothing to do with Southport, while Ray, now bitter and quietly disturbed, ends up playing a much larger role in the carnage than initially expected. There's a clever shift here, where nostalgia isn't just used for window dressing but actually woven into the structure of the story. Ray's arc, in particular, brings a level of personal betrayal that lands harder than expected.
Still, for everything the film gets right, there's plenty that doesn't quite land. The dialogue, especially among the younger cast, often sounds like it was filtered through a dozen TikTok scripts and rewritten for maximum cringe. Attempts at humour or sincerity regularly miss the mark, and there's a sense throughout that the film is trying far too hard to be in on the joke.
The nostalgia, too, becomes a bit of a double-edged sword. For fans of the original, there's some enjoyment in the references, the music cues, and the cameos, but it does start to weigh the film down. Rather than carving its own path, it often feels like it's tracing someone else's, hoping we won't notice the repetition.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) is far from groundbreaking, but it knows what it is. It delivers grisly deaths, throws in a few fun twists, and doesn't try to overcomplicate things. It's not going to dethrone the original, and it probably won't stick in anyone's memory for long, but as a late-night slasher with a good-looking cast and plenty of blood, it mostly does the job.
7 out of 10. Not essential, but far from the worst summer trip back to Southport.
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