The Latest “Last Summer” Sequel Doesn’t Exactly Hook You In

This year’s legacy sequel “I Know What You Did Last Summer” is the fourth overall installment of the franchise and serves as a direct sequel to the 1997 movie and its 1998 sequel “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.” The last movie in the franchise, “I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer,” was released direct to DVD in 2006 and was practically forgotten (and wasn’t a good sequel at all).

I initially tried to fit this into my Countdown to Halloween review series since it began streaming on Netflix at the same time I was working on the series, but didn’t have time. So, now that I finally had the chance to check out the latest horror legacy sequel, does the new “I Know What You Did Last Summer” hook you right in? Well, even though it has some thrilling moments, not really.

When five friends inadvertently cause a deadly car accident, they cover up their involvement and make a pact to keep it a secret rather than face the consequences.

One year later, the past comes back to haunt them as they learn someone knows what they did last summer. Stalked by a mysterious killer, they soon seek help from two survivors of the Southport massacre of 1997.

The “Last Summer” movie franchise had its flaws but they’re also entertaining - well the 1997 movie is entertaining. Its 1998 sequel was just okay, while the 2006 sequel (which went the supernatural route) should stay mostly forgotten. While this 2025 legacy sequel does have some fun and thrilling moments here and there, the latest “Summer” is a bit on the predictable side - not to mention a sort of lackluster ending.

While the 1997 movie did get pretty dark and serious at times, this new entry of the series does have a campy/self-aware tone to it during some parts. Yet, the movie could also be a bit thrilling when it needs to be. This entry definitely reminded me of some of the 90s teen slashers that didn’t really take themselves too seriously, which can make the movie more fun.

Just like most legacy sequels out there, a couple characters from the 1997 movie return (Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr.). In this movie, we get to see how the events of the 1997 and 1998 movies changed them and how they react to the mysterious killings that are happening again. The 2025 entry also has quite a few callbacks to the original movies that nostalgic fans might enjoy.

Now, while the new “Summer” does have a few thrilling moments and chases, the latest sequel can actually be on the sort of forgettable side. For example, the car accident scene that is featured in this movie isn’t nearly as intense and suspenseful as the accident in the 1997 movie, even though they are very similar. The new movie can also rely too heavily on the original movie’s formula and struggles to establish its own identity.

The ending of this sequel is actually bold and is something that can be kind of unexpected. Even though it’s almost tempting to spoil some of the ending since it’s actually a little difficult to discuss the ending without spoiling anything, I won’t. While watching the movie’s killer reveal, I saw that the filmmakers were trying to do something different, yet it felt a bit flat and almost ended up being pointless. 

Ultimately, the 2025 “I Know What You Did Last Summer” can be a divisive movie for fans of the original movie and its first sequel. While many critics and audiences found the latest entry failed to deliver a compelling plot, some fans of the 1997/1998 movies can feel a bit nostalgic while watching this movie and find it a little entertaining.

MPA: Rated R for bloody horror violence, language throughout, some sexual content and brief drug use   (runtime 111 minutes)

You can currently stream the 2025 legacy sequel “I Know What You Did Last Summer” on Netflix or rent it through various PVOD services. You can also find some interesting little trivia bits about the movie on my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews page on Facebook!

• Jennifer Kaytin Robinson confirmed the movie is a direct sequel to I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998).

• This is Jennifer Love Hewitt's first horror role since the film's 1998 sequel, and only her third overall, with the first being the original 1997 film. In 1997, she said that she didn't like horror films and that she has trouble watching films from the genre, since they scare her so much. Not wanting to have been typecast as a scream queen, she turned down numerous horror films offered to her, including Scream 3 (2000), Valentine (2001), The Ring (2002) and Dark Water (2005).

• A direct legacy sequel to I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), ignoring the events of I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006). The latter film's mythology conflicts too much with this film and the first two films, as Ben Willis is turned into a ghostly killer who targets teenagers with dark secrets, in a series grounded in reality, and the newspaper clippings in the film state that Ray, Julie, and Karla died at the island even though they're alive and well, resulting in the third film being retconned. Though it's still an official entry, it's no longer considered canon.

• In 2014, director Mike Flanagan and writer Jeff Howard revealed plans for a reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). In a 2016 episode of the "Shockwaves" podcast, Flanagan said the film would not having any connections to the 1973 novel nor the 1997 film, and the scope of the film necessitated an estimated budget of $15-20 million. Actors approached for the film at the time included Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe and Selena Gomez. This planned film eventually fell through, and instead a TV series reboot was released, I Know What You Did Last Summer (2021). It was canceled after one season due to low ratings and negative reviews, resulting in the development of this legacy sequel instead, picking up 27 years after the last film.

• Although the film takes place in Southport, North Carolina, it was filmed in Australia.

• With a domestic opening weekend of $12 million, this film had the weakest performance at the box office in the series, as the first film opened at $15 million and the sequel opened at $16 million. The final gross overall for this sequel was $65 million, making it the lowest grossing film in the franchise compared to the $125 million and $84 million gross of the first and second films respectively.