Imagine if your childhood came back with lip gloss, identity crises, and a four-way existential meltdown.
Well, it just did.
When Disney dropped the Freakier Friday footage at CinemaCon, the internet predictably spiraled into a nostalgia coma. Lindsay Lohan back? Jamie Lee Curtis still crushing? Chad Michael Murray possibly mistaking a flirt for a seizure? Inject it all directly into our millennial veins.
But here's the uncomfortable truth: Freakier Friday isn't riding the nostalgia wave.
It's hijacking it. Swerving. And possibly—quietly—changing the trajectory of family comedies for the better.
Let's talk about why this footage matters more than you think.
This Isn't a Reboot. It's a Mirror—Cracked Wide Open
Hollywood loves safe bets. Slap a familiar title on a script, toss in a few Easter eggs, and boom: legacy sequel. Most reboots feel like reheated leftovers. But this? This is dinner at your ex's house—with their new spouse, their kid, and a bottle of wine you brought just to keep things civil.
The original Freaky Friday (2003) worked because of its simplicity: mom and daughter swap bodies, hijinks ensue, mutual understanding blooms. Add a magic fortune cookie, stir.
Now, Disney's sequel throws that cookie in a blender.
Four bodies. Two generations. One identity cluster bomb.
Lohan's Anna swaps with her daughter (played by Julia Butters). Curtis' Tess ends up inside Anna's stepdaughter (Sophia Hammons). That's not just a gimmick—it's a narrative Rubik's Cube.
And from the CinemaCon footage, it's working.
A Scene That Says It All: The Stroke That Wasn't
Let's unpack what might be the most awkward moment ever previewed at a film industry event: Anna (in her daughter's body) awkwardly tries to flirt with her former crush, Jake. Chad Michael Murray, bless him, looks concerned. Her lip bite? Misread as a stroke.
Reader, I howled.
This isn't just slapstick. It's generational cringe at its most potent. And it captures exactly what the film seems to be about: how badly we understand each other—even when we think we've lived it.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan Didn't Come Back for a Paycheck
You can tell when actors phone it in for a sequel. (Cough Zoolander 2 cough.) But the CinemaCon footage suggests something else entirely.
Curtis isn't just riffing on her 2003 character. She's playing an evolved Tess—older, wiser, yet still hilariously high-strung. And Lohan? She's not playing a teen anymore—she is the mom. A mom with a stepdaughter. Which makes the emotional stakes heavier, messier, and…freakier.
Their chemistry? Untouched. Like a band reuniting and realizing their old hits still slap, but this time they brought a synthesizer.
Freakier Friday Isn't Just a Movie. It's a Diagnosis.
Let's be real. The “blended family” trope is often reduced to Disney Channel-level tension and TikTok-sized conflict. But in Freakier Friday, the chaos is the point. The family is messy. The emotions are tangled.
Director Misha Ganatra (Late Night) isn't just here for gags. Her work always explores identity, generational gaps, and the absurd beauty of trying to understand each other. And this time, she's doing it with teenage makeovers and soul swaps.
As Curtis quipped at CinemaCon: “You'll get to see me like never before thanks to a very aggressive teenage makeover.”
That's not just a punchline. That's a mission statement.
This Is Disney's Boldest Family Film Since Inside Out
Yeah, I said it.
Sure, Inside Out gave emotions literal names. But Freakier Friday is doing something messier—and more human. It's showing how identity, family roles, and intergenerational baggage collide when you're literally walking around in someone else's acne-prone body.
It's not subtle. It's not clean. But it's honest.
Why It Might Crash (But Probably Won't)
Let's keep it 100. There are risks.
- Too many bodies, not enough arc: Four characters swapping could spiral into narrative soup.
- Tone tightrope: One wrong step, and it becomes slapstick without soul.
- Audience confusion: Gen Z might not even remember the first film—and that's okay.
But given the footage, and Disney's sharp positioning, it looks like they're threading the needle. Carefully. Boldly. Freakily.
Freakier Friday Isn't for Everyone. That's the Point.
This film won't please everyone. The purists will want a rehash. The critics will question the necessity. But for those who grew up with Lohan and Curtis—and for families navigating real-life stepdynamics, identity confusion, and generational gaps?
This might be the most honest fantasy they've ever seen.
If you haven't seen the trailer for Freakier Friday don't miss out! This nostalgic body-swapping sequel is sure to delight fans of the original Halloweentown series. Dive into the excitement and watch it now!
