If there were one film that completely encapsulates the nostalgia of the early aughts, it would, without a doubt, be Freaky Friday. Every time I watch it, I feel like I’m transported back to the days when Avril Lavigne was topping charts and it was perfectly acceptable to have pants so low-waisted your underwear might pop out of the waistband. Even with a film full of early 2000s fashion, smoky liner, and angsty pop-punk anthems, Freaky Friday is still so culturally relevant today that you’d never guess more than 20 years have passed since its release. I see TikToks using sounds from the film daily, quote the movie all the time with my friends, and rewatch it multiple times a year.
The film makes me laugh just as hard on the 50th watch as it did on the first, but the comedic elements aren’t what make it so impactful. Underneath all the laughs lies a poignant story about parenthood, mother-daughter relationships, and empathy that resonates deeply with moms and daughters. “Putting yourself in another’s shoes is something all parents tend to emphasize when trying to raise good humans,” The Everymom’s Senior Editor, Kathy Sisson, said after re-watching the film with her daughter for the first time. “Sure, it doesn’t always get through, but Freaky Friday forced both my daughter and I to imagine another perspective, and I loved the movie even more for that.”
So when Disney announced a Freakier Friday sequel would be hitting theaters on August 8, mothers and daughters everywhere were, understandably, freaking out. There was a lot of anticipation to see if the sequel would live up to the hype of the original, and after watching it myself, it 100 percent does. Here’s why Freakier Friday is a must-see family movie for millennial moms everywhere.
The Legacy of 2003’s Freaky Friday
Before I dive into what made Freakier Friday potentially even better than the original, I need to make sure we’re all on the same page about how life-changing Freaky Friday was. There are plenty of movies from our childhood that hold up over the years, but Freaky Friday was more than just a film that stood the test of time—it was a defining moment for millennials. Watching the icons that were (and still are) Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis on screen together literally changed something in millennials’ brain chemistry. Seeing them reunite in the sequel is what I imagine it would feel like for boomers if The Beatles got back together (it somehow felt that impossible, too).
Everyone dreamed of a sequel, but actually getting one, and getting one that’s genuinely just as special as the first film, seemed like wishful thinking. But, everyone, say thank you to director Nisha Ganatra who managed to create a film that honors the original’s nostalgia while still being a fabulous watch completely on its own.
What to Expect From Freakier Friday
In Freakier Friday, Lindsay Lohan reprises her role as Anna, but this time around, she’s the single mom. She’s navigating raising her daughter and blending their family as her wedding to new love interest Eric (Manny Jacinto) approaches. Instead of playing the strict mom, Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) gets to be the cool grandma to Anna’s daughter, Harper (Julia Butters), who isn’t coping well with the news that her mom is marrying the father of her sworn enemy, Lily (Sophia Hammons).
We get to watch a hilarious four-way body swap between Anna, Tess, Harper, and Lily. The girls, in Anna and Tess’s bodies, come up with a plan to put a stop to the wedding—one that involves the return of Chad Michael Murray as Jake. What ensues is a chaotic sprint to keep Anna (er… Harper?) from walking down the aisle and a heartwarming story of three generations of women learning what it’s like to walk in each other’s shoes.
Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis Are Back as the Iconic Mother-Daughter Duo
I know it’s hard to imagine Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis’s on-screen chemistry getting any better than in Freaky Friday, but they somehow raise the bar even higher in Freakier Friday. Now that Anna is no longer an angsty teen and is raising her own daughter as a single mother, she and Tess are able to connect in ways they couldn’t before. That’s not to say they always see eye to eye. Anna’s parenting style is all about deep, cleansing breaths and gentle parenting, whereas Tess takes a more… traditional approach. Watching that millennial versus boomer parenting style juxtaposed on screen will have every parent in the audience relating while cracking up.
After the body swap, when Harper is in Anna’s body and Lily is in Tess’s, I don’t think I stopped laughing once—well, maybe when I was crying at the end. There’s something so special about seeing two people you grew up with on screen together again, absolutely thriving. The movie may have just come out, but I’m already craving a Freakiest Friday so we can watch them reunite again.
How Freakier Friday Bridges Generations
Freaky Friday and its cult-classic status are among the few things millennials and Gen Z can agree on. Millennials lived the original movie, Gen Z grew up with it, and now Gen Alpha gets to see the film with fresh eyes in a version that speaks to a new generation. The core of the film—growing up, letting go, and understanding each other—addresses issues that resonate with everyone, no matter when you were born. But just because the sequel aims to bring in a new generation of fans doesn’t mean it isn’t full of nostalgic references and callbacks that millennials will absolutely love.
Freakier Friday is the perfect bridge between generations, but even just the shared cultural moment of its making and release feels like a defining part of 2025. Watching the red carpets and reposting interview clips has been a celebration of what it means to grow up in this day and age. We’re all still angsty teens at heart (now we just have to pay taxes). Freakier Friday reminds us that that’s OK, we all still feel like kids at times, and just watching the movie healed my inner child a bit.
Why Freakier Friday is a Must-See for Millennial Moms (and the Whole Family)
Creating a realistic portrayal of mother-daughter relationships, especially one full of teenage tension, is no easy feat. Movies and shows often revert to overdone clichés or present a moody teenager whose issues are nothing more than a convenient plotline wrapped up in a bow when the 30-minute episode ends. But in Freakier Friday, the experiences of both Harper and Lily and Anna and Tess feel real.
As a daughter, I felt so seen in the way Harper and Lily believed their parents couldn’t truly understand their struggles, even though Anna and Eric went through almost the same things at their age. They felt misunderstood and overlooked, like so many teenagers do, even in the most loving families. Freakier Friday portrayed the awkwardness and discomfort of growing up in such an accurate, laugh-out-loud way that you can look back on your own memories of age 16 with a fondness that’s often hard to find when all you want to do is cringe at your past self.
These moments also create the perfect conversation starter with your kids about their own experiences as teenagers or what they have to look forward to as they get older. “I love that the main concept in both movies is empathy—the literal living in someone’s shoes,” Kathy said. “It’s a takeaway I think is valuable for my kids to see (even if I’m also watching the movie for a glimpse of Chad Michael Murray on a motorcycle again).”
It’s not just the teenagers Freakier Friday gets right; the film also completely understands parenting today. It’s complicated and messy, but at the end of the day, everything you do for your kids comes from love, even if they can’t see it in the moment. Anna and Tess have so much love for Harper and each other. Even in the most chaotic moments, you can see how family is the center of their world. They may have different ways of showing it, but that familial love is always present, and it’s just as much a character in the film as the people in the credits.
Even as a mom and a grandma, Anna and Tess are still figuring out who they are and how they communicate, something that rings true for women today who are often told they’re supposed to have everything figured out by age 25. The film speaks to how easy it is, with kids, careers, and everything else going on, to get caught up in your own world and forget the empathy we should always have for others.
The original Freaky Friday wasn’t just a chance for Anna and Tess to understand each other; it offered that same opportunity to moms and daughters everywhere, sparking conversations that helped them open up. Kathy experienced just that with her own daughter while watching Anna (as Tess) give her speech at Tess’s rehearsal dinner during the original Freaky Friday.
“At that moment, I also looked across the living room at my daughter lying on the couch—who now takes up almost five feet of space and who called me ‘weird’ for crying—and I know we’re nearing a new chapter,” she said. “There will be screaming (there already is), but I hope there’s also laughter and more shared moments like our Freaky Friday movie night. And I hope she’ll watch the Freaky Friday sequel with me after it comes out, when maybe I’ll get to relate to Lindsay Lohan’s character once again.” Freakier Friday only brings even more opportunities for moments like these to families.
Where to Watch Freakier Friday
Freakier Friday releases in theaters on August 8, and in my personal opinion, you should be there on opening night to experience it as soon as possible. Eventually, it’s expected to hit streaming on Disney+, but no date has been announced.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lauren Blue, Assistant Editor
As an Assistant Editor for The Everygirl, Lauren ideates and writes content for every facet of our readers’ lives. Her articles span the topics of must-read books, movies, home tours, travel itineraries—and everything in between. When she isn’t testing the latest TikTok trend, she can be found scouring Goodreads for new releases to feature on the site.
Kathy Sisson has been a key contributor in the editorial parenting space for eight years, not only as a full-time editor at The Everymom but previously as a freelance writer for top parenting sites, including Scary Mommy, Motherly, Parent Co., and more. As an editor at The Everymom, she has produced hundreds of articles on a range of parenting topics, reviewed dozens of family-focused products, interviewed leading experts in the children and parenting world, and created viral parenting social media content. A mom of two, she is committed to sharing the honest, helpful, and often humorous stories of motherhood.
