I Know What You Did Last Summer unleashes a bloody, profane reboot of the 1997 slasher flick of the same name. The movie revels in its blood-stained splatter, packing in vulgar language and (sometimes disturbing) sexual scenes amid the constant carnage caused by a hook-wielding, slicker-wearing serial killer.
Ava, Danica, Milo, Teddy and Stevie have a secret.
Last summer, in the swanky coastal villa of Southport, North Carolina, these friends’ actions led directly to a man’s death.
It was an accident. They didn’t mean for such a tragic outcome to occur. But their reckless behavior (while some of them were under the influence of drugs and alcohol, no less) still contributed to another person’s demise. And that meets the legal qualifications for manslaughter.
That is, if anyone found out what really happened.
Ava and the others are young, with their whole lives in front of them. This accident could derail their futures. Wouldn’t it be better if no one knew their part in it?
So, these five friends swear never to share their secret and go their separate ways. A year later, Danica’s pre-wedding festivities bring them all back to Southport.
That’s when they get a message, a little note containing seven simple words:
“I know what you did last summer.”
The friends are terrified that their secret will get out. That terror only grows when bodies start to pile up, courtesy of a masked, hook-wielding murderer in a fisherman’s slicker. It’s clear that this psycho slayer is less interested in spilling their secret than their blood.
As the mysterious serial killer pursues the group, Ava and the others desperately seek help—which leads them to the only survivors of an eerily similar killing spree that took place in Southport during the summer of 1997 …
Though Ava, Danica, Milo, Teddy and Stevie ultimately cause a man’s death, they do try to save him. Ava and Danica share a close, supportive friendship. Someone saves his friend from being run over by a car. A woman with a traumatic past overcomes her fears to rescue another character.
One Southport resident (and eventual murder suspect) is a pastor of a local Christian church. He tells someone, “Death is part of God’s natural order.” At one point, Ava and Danica visit his church, which contains a prominent stained-glass window depicting the Holy Trinity. We see a cross hanging in the pastor’s office, and the church marquee quotes Proverbs 15:3.
A dead man is positioned in a prayerful pose. References are made to astrology and karma. Danica refers to a friend who claims to be a “claircognizant empath.” Song lyrics refer to belief in Jesus Christ.
While I Know What You Did Last Summer refrains from nudity, that doesn’t mean the movie shies away from sexual scenes and suggestive dialogue.
Ava roughly kisses another woman in a bathroom stall, and it’s implied they have sex there as well. Later, she and Milo kiss in a passionate scene. Clothes are removed down to their underwear. This encounter ends after Ava asks him to choke and “punish” her for her arousal (which both reflects and reinforces a growing and disturbing trend mingling choking and sex popularized by pornography.)
Danica and Teddy kiss passionately. In one scene, she invites him into bed with her, though it’s not clear how much actually happens there. Danica wears revealing clothing throughout the film, and Teddy’s muscular torso is often exposed.
A woman is shown taking a bath, though only her bare shoulders and lower legs are shown. Characters discuss “hooking up.” Others make references to (or offers of) sex. We learn that Julie James and Ray Bronson, survivors from the first Southport Massacre in 1997, got married but are now divorced.
Someone tells her friend that she finds fireworks “erotic.” A joke about male anatomy is made in reference to someone’s last name. A woman in mourning is labeled a “hot widow.” Friends attend an engagement party and a bridal shower.
It will likely come as no surprise that I Know What You Did Last Summer revels in the gore proffered by its slasher story. Messy kills are almost as frequent as the movie’s jump scares (of which there are many).
People get stabbed and skewered with knives, hooks and harpoons. One especially graphic murder involves a large fisherman’s hook and a man’s neck. Elsewhere, a character is strangled to death, while another has his eyes gouged out. Blood splatters and streams accompany every kill. Several times, murder victims are put on display, hung off buildings or strung up like trophy fish.
One character has a gruesome nightmare in which a woman’s face bleeds and decomposes. A man fights against his assailant and receives multiple bloody stab wounds. A truck swerves off a road and eventually tumbles off a cliff, taking its driver with it.
Someone is shot. A woman’s obvious murder is deemed a suicide by a corrupt police force. A young woman admits to thoughts of suicide.
When Ava reaches out to Julie for help dealing with the killer, Julie’s advice has violent undertones: “Get them before they get you.”
Nearly 50 f-words are uttered, and more than 15 s-words. We also hear about 20 abuses of God’s name (paired once with “d—”). Jesus’ name is misused twice. Additionally, we hear “d—,” “h—,” “a–” and “a–hole,” “b–ch” and “b–tard.”
Vulgar terms for male and female anatomy are used, including the c-word.
Drugs are referenced and used. Ava and Teddy smoke weed. Danica talks about taking Adderall and Xanax.
Characters drink throughout the film. We hear that a person is an alcoholic and later see him chugging a bottle of wine. Someone drinks from a flask and offers it to others. A bride-to-be talks about her “spritz bar.” People toast with champagne. We are told that a certain character went to rehab. A woman says, “alcohol bloats.”
At a bar, we see shelves lined with liquor bottles. A bong can be seen in someone’s boat. A crash victim is framed as a drug addict.
As mentioned, Ava and the others agree to keep their part in a man’s death secret. Teddy’s father, who has the Southport Police Department in his pocket, uses his influence to cover up the incident. Later, the police illegally detain two people.
Julie is a now professor, and she teaches students about how trauma affects the brain. She also experiences PTSD and flashbacks of her own past traumatic experiences. One person talks about feeling the overwhelming weight of guilt. Ava’s mother is dead. Stevie’s father squandered her college fund.
A pair breaks into a building. Someone sneaks into a man’s office. Young adults act recklessly, which leads to disaster.
I Know What You Did Last Summer is a bloody, profane reboot, packing in a lot of foul language, sexual scenes (some with disturbing undertones), crude dialogue and even a few subtle jabs at religion amid the constant gore.
The movie plays to please fans of the original 1997 slasher flick, seeming to wink at the audience while deploying familiar horror tropes and grisly kills. But that tongue-in-cheek tone does nothing to dampen the carnage; instead, I Know What You Did Last Summer revels in its splatter, eager to show the viewer all its blood-soaked “entertainment.”
With that in mind, families will want to toss this seaside-slasher horror pic back into the brine. Or never fish it out of the murky depths in the first place.
Bret loves a good story—be it a movie, show, or video game—and enjoys geeking out about things like plot and story structure. He has a blast reading and writing fiction and has penned several short stories and screenplays. He and his wife love to kayak the many beautiful Colorado lakes with their dog.
