22 years after Tess and Anna endured an identity crisis, Anna now has a daughter and a soon-to-be stepdaughter. As they navigate the challenges that come when two families merge, Tess and Anna discover that lightning might strike twice. (from IMDB)

Twenty-two years after the release of Disney's cult-classic body swap movie, Freaky Friday, we now have its first sequel, Freakier Friday. Since I'm not exactly the demographic for the film, I hadn't seen the original release until recently when Disney sent us the digital copy of the new sequel. I wanted to see the first film in preparation for watching this one. I was actually really surprised how good Freaky Friday was -- and I can kinda see why it finally spawned a sequel (especially in our nostalgia-hungry age). The first movie involved mother and daughter Tess and Anna - who seldom ever saw eye-to-eye falling - prey to a Chinese "spell" and switching bodies. And it wasn't until they reconciled that they were able to change back. Jamie Lee Curtis' amazing performance as her 15-year-old daughter Anna in her body is fantastic. Lindsay Lohan is good as Anna - and her mother Tess - but Curtis really stole the show. It's a heartfelt story, too, and it also serves as a nice little snapshot of life in 2003.

Now we're in 2025, and Freakier Friday - like a lot of modern takes and updates on classic stories - feels like a slightly jarring transportation of the story to today's world. It puts the work in to feel familiar to the 2003 movie, but it also uses a lot of today's elements to remind you we're now in the present day (especially when podcasts, smartphones, social media and AirPods suddenly become part of the plot). Where Tess getting remarried is a big part of the story in Freaky Friday, this time it's adult Anna getting married, and to complicate things, she's marrying the father of her daughter Harper's biggest social nemesis, Lily.

Once again we're nearing the eve of a big wedding that some characters aren't crazy about and after some social scuffles between Harper and Lily, a run-in with a psychic causes Anna and Tess to swap again -- and now Lily and Harper, but not like you might think. Harper is now in her mom's body, and for some weird reason, Lily swaps with Tess. So you may find yourself spending a good portion of the movie trying to realize "OK, Lily isn't Lily; that's Tess. Tess isn't Tess, that's really Lily. Anna isn't Anna; that's Harper. And Harper isn't Harper; that's Anna." If you don't get at least a little bit of a headache trying to keep it all straight, hat's off to you! Once again, Curtis seems to have a lot of fun, and she gets some of the harshest moments to poke fun at her own age. Kudos to her for being okay with it. Lindsay Lohan gets to ham it up this time around, playing her angsty daughter Harper, instead of having to play the straight arrow of her mother Tess, while Julia Butters as Harper has to suddenly play the more serious Anna. Finally, Sophia Hammons as Lily does a pretty good job as Tess, but it feels kinda weird that those two would even swap at all.

I had a harder time getting on board with this one -- not as easily as the first movie, but it's the kind of story that is likely to win you over more as it reveals its true heart later in the film. It doesn't quite have that "been there, done that" feel - although it certainly does to an extent - and I can see why adding another pair of body-swaps to the mix would be an attempt to keep it fresher. (Thankfully, there's no tease of this happening again at the end of the movie.) But there are some really sweet moments that unfold in the last act that redeem the movie from feeling just wholly unnecessary, even if it may be too little too late for some.

Content-wise, it's nice to see Disney targeting a PG rating for Freakier Friday in a time when it seems typical to up the ante and go for a PG-13 with the sequel. (And, really, profanity and/or sexual content would really be the only reasons to warrant a higher rating.) Content is relatively light and family-friendly, but I was kind of surprised that, early on in the movie, a frustrated Tess leans into her computer's camera and starts saying "mother--", getting cut off at "moth--." It's obvious what she was going to say, and that seems pretty spicy for a PG rating nowadays. (Where, in the 80's, a full "F" word was often allowed in a PG movie, like Big or the original Beetlejuice.) Other than that, there's a single use of "bad*ss," a bunch of "Oh my G-d" and one "h*ll" in the outtakes during the credits. There isn't really any sexual content, but there's an inexplicable presence of a high schooler holding up a rainbow flag during a food fight sequence. It makes no sense and feels present just to check off a representation box (but there's also a possibility it was intended to have a more purposeful presence, which may have been otherwise deleted). Lastly, instead of a Chinese fortune cookie fortune causing the body swap, this time it's a mantra a psychic speaks. It's all done light and kind of silly, but those not keen on a psychic being the magical cause of the swap this time may want to keep that in mind.

As far as entirely unnecessary sequels go, Freakier Friday definitely qualifies, but it's a decent follow-up that ought to scratch the nostalgic itch of anyone who loved the original and wouldn't mind seeing these characters at it again. Some moments are painfully cringy (like Harper as Anna trying to flirt with a grown-up Jake and then Jake swooning over seeing the now-65-year-old Tess again), while others seem to strike just right emotional balance (like the climactic live concert performance). Fans of the first movie should enjoy Freakier Friday, while casual fans probably won't miss anything if they skipped this one.

Freakier Friday is available now at digital retailers. It comes with a decent few extras, and 11 minutes of deleted scenes:

EXTRAS

1. Making Things Freakier (7:30) - The cast talk about returning - including Jamie saying the first movie was one of her all-time favorite films. The also talk about approaching the new story, filming in LA, and the young cast talks about trying to play the original cast.
2. Where Were You When... (2:52) - The new cast reflect on the first time they saw the movie - and we learn that the original film gained a new audience from being on Disney Plus!
3. Flashback Friday (3:49) shows the parallels between the two movies.
4. "Baby" Lyric Video (3:16) - This is a lyric video for Anna's song, sung by Lindsay Lohan, played to scenes from the film - including some B-roll footage.

DELETED SCENES (11:48) [Play All]

1. Trevor's New Song - The studio producer talks about how great the song is.
2. Extended Dance Lesson - This is more of the instructor trying to direct Anna. Anna (Harper) then puts on polka and acts silly - probably to make Eric not like it.
3. Anna Cancels Wedding - Harper as Anna cancels plans over the phone.
4. Pickleball Team Announcements - The pickleball players are introduced. (1 "h*ll")
5. Beta Girl Backs Up Lily - One of the girls parrots Lily in support.
6. Intensity of the V's - The opposing pickleball team - "The V's" - practice a little too aggressively and trash talk.
7. Blake Doesn't Like What She Hears - Anna's boss fires a guy after Anna (who's really Harper) questions one of Anna's previous decisions and defends herself by saying she consulted a teenager (herself) and used a focus group.
8. Malibu Shark - Harper's friends mock her for being too stiff (because it's really Anna). It's strange, because a lot of these scenes feature the boom mic peaking into the camera view from above.
9. Eric Read Tess's Books - Eric tells Lily (who is really Tess) that he read Tess's books, which of course piques her interest.
10. School Pickup - The Chinese ladies (from the first movie) pick up the kids and they tell them they're actually Anna and Tess - which makes them freak out. (1 "Oh my G-d")