Freaky is a 2020 comedy horror drama film based loosely on the classic 1978 Freaky Friday movie which has been remade several times over the years since. The twist in Freaky is that this time, the protagonist switches bodies – not with her mother – but with a serial killer!
Produced by renowned horror movie producer Jason Blum, Freaky succeeds due to a couple of factors. One, the movie remains true to its tongue-in-cheek premise throughout, operating superbly as a satire on the slasher horror movie genre. Two, the performances of the two leads allow the audience to immerse itself completely in its ridiculous premise.
Vince Vaughn is brilliantly psychotic as the Blissfield Butcher but then ups the ante when his character switches bodies with teenager Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton) and he is able to convey the soul of a high school girl wonderfully. For Newton, perhaps the acting challenge is not as severe but she does a decent job nonetheless. Both leads do enough to sufficiently allow the audience to suspend disbelief, considering the pure silliness of the premise.
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Sure, there is a pinch of character development for Millie but it’s trite and formulaic at best. Presumably at a minimum, the characterisation needed a modicum of depth to prevent Freaky from descending into meaningless farce. Not that the stereotypical portrayals of the supporting characters lend itself too much to rising beyond the two dimensional.
So, think of Freaky as the film equivalence of comfort food. While substantially, there might be nothing more than empty calories being offered here, at least, the consumer will thoroughly enjoy the experience, initially in any case. Freaky is the more or less 100 minutes of mindless fun that does not feel like a complete a waste of time by the end you get to the predictable ending. Just simply enjoy!
Watch on Netflix.
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