Nisha Ganatra (Late Night, The High Note) directs this sequel to Freaky Friday (2003), itself a remake of a 1976 film based on Mary Rodgers’ 1972 novel. It’s been 22 years since Dr. Tess Coleman (Lamie Lee Curtis) swapped bodies with her daughter, Anna (Lindsay Lohan). Now single mom Anna has a daughter of her own, Harper (Julia Butters), a precocious high schooler. When Anna meets single dad Eric (Manny Jacinto), it’s love at first sight, but Eric’s daughter, Lily (Sophia Hammons), is Harper’s high school lab partner, and they loath each other. Still, the girls team up to throw cold water on their parents’ hot romance, but when they cross paths with psychic Madame Jen (Vanessa Bayer), suddenly there’s a four-way body swap that can only be reversed when their hearts are in the right places. (97 min.)
Editor’s note: Anna Starkey is out of town, so Glen tapped his retired educator friend Chuck Maxie to fill in.
Glen It’s easy to get fed up with Hollywood’s penchant for sequels and remakes. They feel like low-hanging-fruit money grabs. This new installment in the franchise—the seventh—might not be doing anything new, but it’s doing what it does well thanks to terrific acting and a script with a lot of heart. Instead of Tess and Anna swapping, it’s Tess and Lily, and Anna and Harper. Each actress does an impressive job of morphing into her older or younger counterpart. When Harper’s in Anna’s body and she begins to understand how deeply Eric loves her mom, her heart is indeed changed. There’s also a lot of comic possibilities as these four women try to walk a mile in one another’s shoes.
Chuck Yes, the old switcheroo is so well done. The actors deliver, and the interactions between the others that are not in the know are hilarious. The characters that are not switched are funny as they don’t understand the changes in their perceived peers’ behavior. This weirdness is contagious, and humor ensues. The age gaps among the three primary characters offer a real look at generational differences—both socially and in the ways and means of our tech-savvy world.
Glen I’m kind of loving this renaissance for Jamie Lee Curtis. Knives Out (2019) and Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) really reignited her career, and I thought Lindsay Lohan’s career was in ashes. Both are great here, and I was really impressed with Julia Butters. If you remember Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (2019), she played the young actress Trudi Fraser who gives “notes” to Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton when he’s filming a Western. I’m a bit of a sap for this kind of stuff, so I loved it. I loved that everyone learned their lesson and that love prevailed. Bravo.
Chuck Speaking of lessons. Plato said something about being kind to everyone because we’re all in some form of struggle each and every day. The younger characters eventually get this, and it propels the movie toward the resolution of this engaging and very cute movie. The older characters also learn and realize life is not just about what they deem wise. The movie drives on the role of parenting and co-parenting and how that affects the kids, which is a layered and complicated feat. The flux of all of this is so well played out by the director, writer, and actors. It’s a very fun watch for all ages. Δ
Arts Editor Glen Starkey and Chuck Maxie wrote Split Screen this week. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Aug 14-24, 2025.