The setup is familiar, but it’s not just a repeat of the original. The film finds ways to expand the story without losing the fun.
I grew up on Lindsay Lohan movies: The Parent Trap, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Freaky Friday and, duh, Mean Girls. They were a big part of my childhood. So when I heard she and Jamie Lee Curtis were reuniting for a Freaky Friday sequel, I was curious. Could it actually work after more than 20 years?
Personally, I think the sequel did better than everyone expected.
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From Pink Slip to parenthood
In the 2003 Freaky Friday, Lohan’s character Anna played guitar in a rock band called Pink Slip, and back then, almost every teenager in the movies or series I watched dreamed of being in a band. The movie became one of the defining films of my generation. The mother-daughter switch, the guitar solos, the yelling, the comedy, it was chaotic but still heartfelt.
Fast forward to 2025, Freakier Friday brings back the same core: a body swap that forces characters to walk in each other’s shoes, but now with added layers. Anna is all grown-up and dealing with real adult problems, a single parent raising a teenage daughter, planning a wedding, and blending families. That alone is enough chaos. Then, of course, the body swap happens, and this time it’s even messier.
Same magic but double the chaos
In the sequel, Anna is engaged to Eric (Manny Jacinto), a London-based chef with a daughter named Lily (Sophia Hammons). Anna’s own daughter, Harper (Julia Butters), is not exactly thrilled with the idea of a new stepdad, much less a stepsister. Lily and Harper don’t get along, and with a move overseas on the table, things are tense.
Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis), now a grandmother, is still in the picture and she’s, well, still very Tess. Organized, intense, and armed with endless opinions about how everyone else should be living their lives. She’s also still that mom (and now grandma) who thinks she’s staying calm while absolutely not staying calm. In the middle of a family drama during Anna’s bachelorette party, a psychic (Vanessa Bayer) gets involved, and the whirlwind begins. But instead of just Anna and Tess switching like last time, this time it’s Anna and Harper, and Tess and Lily. Both generations are thrown into each other’s lives.
The rest of the movie follows both duos trying to switch back while also slowly learning what the other is really going through. The setup is familiar, but it’s not just a repeat of the original. The film finds ways to expand the story without losing the fun.
And while they try to figure out how to break the curse, the two teenagers come up with a plan of their own. Harper doesn’t want to leave Los Angeles, and Lily doesn’t like it there at all. Since they can’t stand each other—and don’t want their lives to change—they decide to sabotage their parents’ upcoming wedding. It leads to one of the funniest and most important moments in the movie, where things start to shift for everyone.
Chad Michael Murray plays Jake, Anna’s love interest in the first movie, the guy who ended up falling for Anna while she was stuck in her mom’s body.
What really stood out to me is how naturally Lindsay Lohan fits into this version of Anna. She’s no longer the rebel. She’s the mom now, trying to juggle everything while keeping it together. She speaks in therapy terms, tries to be the calm one, and is always adjusting herself for others. It’s a shift from the punk-rock Anna I remember, watching her navigate parenting, love, and unresolved tension with Tess makes her character richer. It also reflects Lohan’s own growth, which adds an extra layer for fans who’ve been watching her since the early 2000s.
Jamie Lee Curtis, as always, is all in. She gets to lean into physical comedy again, playing a Gen Z teen trapped in a grandma’s body. She’s hilarious. Even Chad Michael Murray shows up briefly, and yes, it’s exactly the throwback moment you’d hope for—at least it was for me. (He’s Chad Michael Murray!)
And then there’s Manny…
I had written about Manny Jacinto before, so I knew about his talent. But seeing him in this cast and knowing he’s Filipino meant something more. His character Eric isn’t a stereotype. He’s warm, believable, and naturally fits into the chaos of the Coleman family. And in this film, he also gets to showcase his first love: dancing.
At the Manila fan event, Manny said, “It feels like a dream, honestly. I never would’ve thought. I was born here, so a local boy that gets to act beside Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis is wild to me. Never would’ve thought—but here we are,”
There’s also a small but meaningful moment in the film: during a family rehearsal dinner at Eric’s newly opened restaurant, Jamie Lee Curtis’s character, Tess, in a funny and unexpected scene, says, “Mano po,” and does the gesture to Eric’s mom, played by Filipina actress Gidgette Reyes.
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Funny and familiar
My friend and I watched this together, and we laughed so much. We caught the references, the energy, the inside jokes. We could see the growth in the characters, especially Anna. The film also gives space for the new characters to matter, and it shows that being a mom doesn’t mean you’ve figured it all out. And it shows that even if your family looks messy from the outside, what matters is how you show up for each other despite all the chaos.
The movie doesn’t try to be deep, but it’s not shallow either. It’s still a Disney film, after all—you get the happy ending—but it balances real emotion with humor and a few well-placed surprises.
And if a movie can make you laugh and walk out smiling? That’s enough for me.
Freakier Friday is now showing in Philippine cinemas.
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