The Midlife

My favorite movie of the year is here.

Is anyone else freaked out that it’s been more than 20 years since Freaky Friday (featuring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan) came out? I am. But the recently released Freakier Friday brings this dynamic duo back together and is my favorite film of 2025 (placing Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning in second place.)

Freakier Friday centers around Anna Coleman (played by the exceptional Lindsay Lohan) as a single parent to her teenage daughter Harper (played by the talented Julia Butters of American Housewife fame). Tess Coleman (Anna’s mom played by the iconic Jamie Lee Curtis) is an accomplished author/therapist and is still married to Ryan (played by Mark Harmon, resuming his role from the previous film). I don’t want to spoil the plot line, but you’ll find plenty of relatable themes such as girl power, nods to motherhood and parenting, teenage drama, romance, thoughts on aging, and processing grief.

Freaky Friday (2003) fans will love the returning characters and stand-out performances in Freakier Friday. In particular, the hilarious Vanessa Bayer (from SNL) and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (from the epic Never Have I Ever series) bring laughs and singing chops, respectively.

My 10-year-old laughed while I nearly peed my pants laughing at one particular scene referencing “cracking walnuts.” Conversely, I cried a little at some of the more tender moments between Anna and Harper, and Tess and Sophia (played by newcomer Lily Reyes). Don’t leave the theater without watching the bloopers at the end credits.

And it absolutely needs to be said: Lindsay Lohan is having a career renaissance. The last couple of films of hers that have had me rooting for her are 2022’s Falling for Christmas and 2024’s Our Little Secret. These roles, combined with newish motherhood, have buried her party girl rep. Freakier Friday is definitely her time to shine.