By Sola Olowo-Ake
Who cried while watching Freakier Friday? Umm…me!
[We listen and we don’t judge, okay?]
After watching Freakier Friday, I unearthed a childhood love and longing for nostalgia that I didn’t know existed within me for this movie. Growing up, I remember watching Freaky Friday multiple times at home with my family (because we had it on DVD) and always being so fascinated by the concept of switching souls. I always believed that the fortune cookies from Pei-Pei and her mother’s restaurant caused the switch. However, after watching Freakier Friday today, I see that the root cause for the soul switch is the desire to be understood and known in each character- which is one of the desires that shapes the human experience in our world.
(L-R) Lindsay Lohan as Anna Coleman and Jamie Lee Curtis as Tess Coleman in Disney’s FREAKIER FRIDAY. Photo by Glen Wilson. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
One thing that I really enjoyed in this movie was the unfiltered growth of its characters. The first movie, Freaky Friday, was released in 2003 and since then, a lot of the cast have grown significantly. Coming into the cinema and watching the actors unfiltered on screen felt like a celebration of generations. (When I saw Ryan, I almost started crying because it dawned on me that twenty-two FREAKIN’ years have passed since the first movie!) The premise of the movie itself celebrates aging across generations and shows us this by bringing the younger generation to the centre of the party. We see Harper (Julia Butters) and Lily (Sophia Hammons) re-live an experience that Anna (Lindsay Lohan) and Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) had gone through when they were younger, but this time, they experience the switch with them in order to fully come into themselves and learn to accept each other. Some characters get a redo at life and, for some, it’s a new experience that they have to face with courage and boldness. Either way, the represented generations contribute to and learn from each other’s lives. We see completely new characters too, like Ella (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Eric (Manny Jacinto) who both serve as anchors for Anna (Lindsay Lohan) as she evolves and blossoms into who she is becoming.
(L-R) Lindsay Lohan as Anna Coleman and Chad Michael Murray as Jake in Disney’s FREAKIER FRIDAY. Photo by Glen Wilson. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
I loved the narrative updates on popular culture and social norms. They really grew with the times- gentle parenting, mindfulness & therapy, podcasts, a redeemed outlook on single-parenting, Gen Z-hood, post-retirement empowerment, and the celebration of longtime relationships, girlhood and girlfriendship.
Freakier Friday is a celebration of growth, change and life. I cried because it was made apparent to me that I was once a young child watching Freaky Friday and singing Pink Slip songs and now, just like the characters have grown, I too am now an adult getting a chance to feel nostalgic about my childhood memory with my family…I had my own ‘switch’ moment.
(L-R) Julia Butters as Harper Coleman, Lindsay Lohan as Anna Coleman, Jamie Lee Curtis as Tess Coleman and Sophia Hammons as Lily Davies in Disney’s FREAKIER FRIDAY. Photo by Glen Wilson. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
I also just want to say that I respect that they paid homage to storylines, scenes and people from the first movie. There were a beautiful amount of call back moments dispersed throughout the film.
One hint: I sang at some point [I’m just going to leave that there].
All in all, Freakier Friday celebrates the human experience and shows that the road to belonging is one destination with varied paths.
Freakier Friday is in theatres on Friday, August 8th, 2025.
