'Freakier Friday' Examines the Legacy Sequel as Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis Inject Nostalgia Into the Body Swap Genre

"Change the hearts you know are wrong to reach the place where you belong."

In the 1970s and 1980s, the idea of the body swap plot line was all too familiar. Much of this trend came from the success of Mary Rodgers' 1972 novel, "Freaky Friday," which tells the story of a teenage girl who swaps bodies with her mother as each of them must view the world from one another's perspective on one wildly confusing Friday. The novel, indirectly or directly, has been the basis for the body swap genre that includes movies like "Big" with Tom Hanks, "The Change Up" starring Ryan Reynolds, and the original 1976 "Freaky Friday" starring a young Jodie Foster.

Yes, that's right, kids. Jodie walked so that Lindsay could run.

Now we find ourselves at a crossroads of legacy sequels in 2025 with the newest addition to the body swap mess around in "Freakier Friday." More than 20 years have passed since the events of "Freaky Friday," where teenage Anna (Lindsay Lohan) and her mother Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) switched bodies one Friday morning, only to discover a great deal about themselves and their family bond. Now a single mother to teenager Harper (Julia Butters), Anna faces another daunting task that leads her in multiple directions: marrying the love of her life, Eric (Manny Jacinto).

Several significant hurdles are present in Anna and Eric's lives as the big wedding day inches closer and closer. The British born Eric's daughter Lily (Sophia Hammons) and Harper don't exactly see eye to eye at school or in their personal lives (a pointed food fight started by the snotty tweens during a school bake sale lands half the school in detention), while Tess's overbearing nature as a grandmother/second mother figure to Harper gets on Anna's nerves. Anna's burgeoning career as the manager to Emma (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), an up-and-coming pop star stressed over a recent breakup, helps to mask Anna's decision to put her own rock star glory on hold while raising her daughter.

All this while Anna and Eric are planning to move the newly formed foursome (despite Tess's wishes) to London after the wedding.

But Matt, when does the body and personality transplant take place? Not until 30 minutes into the movie, so take your time eating that popcorn and feel free to head to the loo before then. Rest assured, with the help of a mystical multihypenate fortune teller (Vanessa Bayer) who inexplicably speaks in tongues, Anna, Tess, Harper, and Lily all switch bodies on a Friday, just a short time before the big wedding is supposed to happen.

Tess is trapped in Lily's body, Harper is seeing the world through her mom's eyes, Anna gets to relive her teenage years through Harper's body, and poor Lily experiences what it's like to be a woman of a certain age with bone density issues as Tess.

"Freakier Friday" expands on the body swap idea and exponentially turns up the dial of laughter by taking the tired genre into the year 2025. Obsession with age and the fragility of a current familial situation takes twists and turns through multiple coming-of-age fragments, cementing the hilarity of the moment. The push and pull of the mother-daughter dynamic takes center stage while varying degrees of relationship drama unfold via electric scooters, reminiscing with old flames (Chad Michael Murray), pickleball tournaments, cell phone tracking, dance lessons, and Los Angeles-based concerts.

Julia Butters (who made a name for herself upstaging Leonardo DiCaprio in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood") and Disney Channel star Sophia Hammons make their mark as the newest additions/cliché teens in this quasi-supernatural adventure. Though it's always nice to see a reunion of Murray and Lohan, it's his scenes opposite Jamie Lee Curtis that really give Chad Michael Murray a reason to exist in this sequel. Their chemistry and banter, though Curtis is adopting Lily's mannerisms in these moments, is worth every minute leading up to it.

In fact, it's Jamie Lee Curtis who takes "Freakier Friday" and runs away with it in every scene-stealing manner, much like she did in 2003's "Freaky Friday." The Oscar-winner goes balls-to-the-wall as she throws herself back into the character of Tess, embracing her inner child and making sure the audience knows she's in on the joke. The pairing of Lohan and Curtis is a match made in comedy heaven as Lohan continues her comeback ride in epic fashion.

Honorable mention: Manny Jacinto. He dives headfirst into a role where his charming magnetism as Anna's love interest is only overshadowed by his hip-thrusting dance moves that could make anyone swoon over the talented actor.

"Freakier Friday" is a energetically comical addition to a growing franchise and a blueprint for the legacy sequel to exist. It might be over 20 years since we've last visited these characters, but Disney fans and families looking for a fun movie night will get a kick out of the hijinks that land Curtis, Lohan, and company in hot water. There is no shortage of nostalgia, nods to the genre, and fantastic inserts that keep the film going while also creating space for these new stories to stand on their own.