This text comprises spoilers for “Freakier Friday.”
Whereas rom-coms have been having fun with a exceptional resurgence on streaming recently, they’ve solely barely began returning to theaters after years of being seemingly banished to your front room solely. It is about time, too; whether or not you want a break from the surface world or to decompress from the swirling ideas in your head, nothing scratches that good itch fairly like a rom-com. Certainly, “Freakier Friday” (the humorous, heartfelt sequel to the Millennial basic that’s 2003’s “Freaky Friday”) even options an up-and-coming Netflix rom-com star, and the outcomes are pretty much as good as you’ll hope. In actual fact, you could even hear a murmur of shock throughout your screening of the movie when Maitreyi Ramakrishnan glides into body.
For individuals who should not acquainted, Ramakrishnan is the star of Netflix’s small display phenomenon, “By no means Have I Ever.” Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher’s rom-com drama collection, which ran for 4 seasons and is loosely based mostly on Kaling’s life as she got here of age in a Massachusetts suburb, follows Devi Vishwakumar (Ramakrishnan), a 15-year-old merely making an attempt to get via her final three years of highschool after the tragic demise of her father. Ramakrishnan makes for a flawed however inherently successful heroine as Devi, a personality who manages to be gifted, humorous, and charismatic whereas additionally being her personal worst enemy for a lot of the present. (Doubly so on the subject of Devi’s love life — it is a mess!) In the meantime, the present round her has grow to be a core teen comedy for a brand new era in the identical approach “Freaky Friday” did for anybody sufficiently old to recollect the waning screams of dial-up web.
On one degree, “Freakier Friday” is primarily about “Freaky Friday” leads Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan passing the torch to their youthful co-stars Julia Butters and Sophia Hammons, with the latter duo being requested to tackle plenty of the lifting right here. However on the identical time, Ramakrishnan can be a part of that handoff, and the film very a lot succeeds in taking part in off her earlier work on “By no means Have I Ever.”
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan performs Anna’s protege in Freakier Friday
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan co-stars in “Freakier Friday” as Ella, a budding pop star underneath Anna Coleman’s (Lindsay Lohan) wing, with Lohan’s “Freaky Friday” protagonist having grow to be a document producer within the years since she established her music profession. Which means Anna isn’t solely in command of crafting Ella’s sound for her subsequent album, however she’s additionally tasked with emotionally regulating the younger artist after a giant breakup sends her spiraling. It is clear that Ella actually respects her supervisor’s opinions and needs to comply with within the older lady’s footsteps by turning into an inspiration for younger women listening to her music. It is all very candy and has a deeper meta-layer of that means due to Lohan and Ramakrishnan each having made their identify as teen media superstars.
As Ella’s breakup will get worse, she occurs upon considered one of Anna’s previous songs. Fast to imagine the tune is about Chad Michael Murray’s Jake from “Freaky Friday,” Ella instantly asks her supervisor to sing it, however Anna declines. Nevertheless, due to the movie’s body-switching shenanigans, Ella is finally in a position to get the blessing she desires to do her personal model of the track. Not solely that, however she truly performs the tune, titled “Child” in entrance of a raucous crowd on the primary cease of her tour in Los Angeles, even bringing Anna out to sing it with the remainder of her previous band, Pink Slip, as a approach of thanking her mentor for serving to her. In fact, Ella has no thought the recommendation she’s been getting for a lot of the film is from Anna’s daughter Harper (Julia Butters), who body-swapped together with her mom!
Seeing Lohan and Ramakrishnan singing alongside on-stage is a really uplifting second, full with the unique Pink Slip frontwoman honoring each her protege and daughter on the identical time. The highlight on these girls, paired with a heartfelt dialog they’ve previous to this scene throughout a photograph shoot, must also hit dwelling for all of the viewers on the market who’ve felt seen by some of these rom-coms (which have typically been unfairly written off as “disposable” as a result of teenage women are the focus).
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is proof Freakier Friday will get it
Franchise sequels and reboots are all around the popular culture panorama proper now, and “Freakier Friday” had a troublesome job in standing out among the many crowd of comparable efforts. Fortunately, nevertheless, the film actually understands the core viewers it is going for and leans into what they connect with, which makes it extra profitable in its objectives than lots of its contemporaries. For lots of Millennial viewers, the 2003 “Freaky Friday” (and “Imply Women,” if we’re staying within the Lohan lane) are roughly sacred texts at this level. On the identical time, simply doing the very same factor once more would have most likely resulted in a sequel that falls flat.
Crucially, “Freakier Friday” embraces the truth that a lot time has handed since “Freaky Friday” and considers who the face of sweet sixteen romantic comedy can be for audiences now. That makes Ramakrishnan’s casting a no brainer, as youthful moviegoers now have actors like her to inform their story on-screen. It is also additional proof that if “a long time after sequels” normally wish to work, then they should do greater than merely play with the set dressing of their vastly standard forbearers. As an alternative of banking purely on nostalgia, (which might really feel good!), they need to supply a path to the longer term whereas nonetheless saying slightly one thing about the place we have been. “Freakier Friday” does precisely that; by extending a hand to a brand new era of ladies via Ramakrishnan, it is undoubtedly taking part in the best notes.
“Freakier Friday” is now taking part in in theaters.
