Good, humorous, scary, and attractive, “I Know What You Did Final Summer time” is the proper summer time leisure, an escapist thriller that raises severe ethical questions however by no means will get slowed down by them. Each a sequel to the 1997 slasher movie of the identical title and an origin story for a brand new set of characters who coexist with sequence regulars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., “I Know What You Did Final Summer time” pays respect to its predecessor (in addition to 1998’s underrated “I Nonetheless Know What You Did Final Summer time”) with out being paralyzed by its affect — it’s a film as thrilling within the new instructions it takes as it’s satisfying in its recreations of the primary movie’s pleasures.
It’s additionally one of the vital felicitous pairings of auteur and studio project in current reminiscence, as “Do Revenge” director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson applies her darkly comedian sensibility to preexisting IP in a manner that advantages each the filmmaker and the franchise. As in “Do Revenge” (in addition to her criminally underseen MTV sequence “Candy/Vicious”), Robinson wraps weighty themes associated to loss, trauma, remorse, and vengeance in a candy-colored package deal that goes down with the infectious ease of a Sabrina Carpenter pop tune.
“I like telling tales that may be about one thing darkish, however which have this sort of popcorn commerciality to them,” Robinson informed IndieWire on an upcoming episode of the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “I feel all of my motion pictures have this sort of wink to them.” In revisiting the world of “I Know What You Did Final Summer time,” a film about characters coping with the aftermath of a shared secret crime, the director (who co-wrote the script with Sam Lansky and Leah McKendrick) needed to delve into the identical thorny points as the unique film from a brand new perspective.
“I needed it to be one thing that felt like a twin flame to the 1997 unique,” Robinson mentioned. “That was the place the place I began. What does this appear to be as we speak? What does accountability appear to be as we speak? What does a narrative about morality appear to be as we speak?” In crafting a enjoyable summer time film that wouldn’t insult the viewers’s intelligence, Robinson regarded to the movie that created the concept of the summer time blockbuster 50 years in the past.
“‘Jaws’ was a giant one,” Robinson mentioned when ticking off her influences on “I Know What You Did Final Summer time,” noting that, like “Jaws” director Steven Spielberg, she needed to make a film that was each present and timeless. She additionally needed to comply with in Spielberg’s footsteps when it got here to presenting the movie’s gore — to maintain it from laying aside a common viewers with out sanitizing or trivializing it.
“There are jokes on this film, it’s enjoyable, however I didn’t need the violence to be humorous,” Robinson mentioned. “Because the film goes deeper and our core characters are dying, I actually needed all of these moments to really feel fairly visceral and upsetting. However I didn’t need there to be a barrier for entry. I needed this to be the type of horror film that’s scary and enjoyable, and also you seize your greatest buddy and also you’re screaming within the bounce scares. It’s R-rated, and I didn’t need it to really feel smooth, however I did need it to be a enjoyable evening out on the motion pictures.”
“Jaws” had a extra particular affect as properly when it comes to the presentation of the city of Southport. A working-class fishing hamlet within the 1997 movie, Southport right here has been reinvented as a summer time vacationer vacation spot — a change that permits Robinson to riff on the plot and milieu of “Jaws,” with an unstoppable slasher filling in for the shark.
“The gentrification of Southport gave us this means to make one thing that felt like sweet,” Robinson mentioned of the change, which supplies the brand new “I Know What You Did Final Summer time” a way more vibrant palette than the extra muted unique — although Robinson is effusive in her enthusiasm for the primary movie’s visible model.
“I feel the unique is a very fantastically shot film,” Robinson mentioned. “There are actually hanging frames, like one the place the digicam pushes in by means of this scrim on Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe. I take into consideration that shot on a regular basis.” One other factor Robinson considered as she launched into “I Know What You Did Final Summer time” was the enduring look of the hook-wielding fisherman killing off the characters one after the other. “I feel the unique slicker and the unique hook work rather well within the unique motion pictures. That mentioned, I believed we might ratchet it up.”
Working with costume designer Mari-An Ceo, Robinson up to date the killer’s costume each to suit the identification of the brand new assassin and to amplify the wardrobe’s extra threatening qualities. “ I needed the hook to be sharper, so we created a blade on the within of the hook,” Robinson mentioned. “There are a few sequences the place somebody’s throat is slit with the within of the blade. And I needed the slicker to really feel just a little extra utilitarian, so we gave it a hood.”
The primary tenet for the costume was realism, in line with Robinson’s need to maintain the film as grounded as attainable amid the heightened humor and horror. “We needed it to really feel like that is one thing that got here out of anyone’s closet,” Robinson mentioned. “One thing that has been there for years and years and years and is now getting used to cloak a assassin. As a result of this isn’t a supernatural villain — it’s simply [a person] who’s murdering. So I needed it to really feel extra actual and extra intense.”
That depth was fine-tuned within the modifying course of, throughout which Robinson tried to determine when and the way to reveal info in a manner that will preserve the suspense mounting. “It’s not nearly when it’s revealed, but additionally the quantity of knowledge,” she mentioned. “How are you telling a narrative in a manner that doesn’t give an excessive amount of away however retains the viewers engaged? It’s arduous to maintain folks’s consideration as a result of we reside within the age of iPhones and TikTok and scrolling and all of that, so it’s a very delicate stability constructing a thriller like this for contemporary audiences.”
That mentioned, Robinson just isn’t solely proud of the place she landed however prepared for extra. “I’d be mendacity if I mentioned I didn’t have an concept for a sequel,” she mentioned. “I like these characters. I like this world. Making this film was so unbelievably enjoyable. So if I’m invited again to do one other one, I’d love to try this.”
“I Know What You Did Final Summer time” opens in theaters on Friday, July 18. To be sure to don’t miss Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s upcoming episode of Filmmaker Toolkit, subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform.
