“Our film is about marrying a nostalgic nineties feel with today’s slasher films,” says director / co-screenwriter Jennifer Kaytin Robinson of I Know What You Did Last Summer. “The film’s design, its score, and the way we developed the kills, each of which feels like something you’ve never seen before but also takes us back to the kind of movie that we rarely see anymore. It’s why people love this franchise.”  

In 1997, the original I Know What You Did Last Summer forever changed the face of blockbuster horror. Directed by Jim Gillespie from a script by Kevin Williamson, the film became a smash hit, took the number one position at the box office for three consecutive weeks, and revitalised the slasher genre. It came to define a generation and continues to be a cultural mainstay.

I Know What You Did Last Summer was inspired by a desire to revisit the original 1997 slasher classic through a legacy sequel lens—honoring the past while updating the story for a new generation.

Robinson seemed destined to helm the new IKWYDLS. “The original was the first R-rated movie I ever snuck into,” she remembers. “My babysitter wanted to see it, and I ended up going with her. Afterwards, my mom got really angry, but I didn’t care because I was so mesmerised by it.” 

“So, when I was approached about directing a new version, it was an immediate yes – truly a no brainer,” Robinson continues. “This movie is about people making a mistake, then making the wrong choice, and the consequences that follow. It’s a deeply human story. Anyone could mess up like our characters do. That’s what sucks you into the story, because you’re thinking, what would I do in this situation? For me, horror is most interesting when it’s grounded in very real stakes.” 

Robinson worked closely with co-screenwriter Sam Lansky to shape the screenplay from a story she wrote with Leah McHendrick.

 For Lansky, as it had with Robinson, the 1997 version played a big role in his early love of movies.  

“I remember exactly where I was – at a sleepover at a friend’s house – when I watched it for the first time,” he recalls. “The film’s pioneering voice and tone worked its way into the cultural consciousness and shaped a lot of people my age … of all ages, in fact.” 

Robinson and Lansky had been friends and colleagues for almost a decade, so the final drafts came together synergistically. “We have a similar sensibility and tend to think the same things are funny or scary or exciting,” Lansky explains, “so the vision took shape quickly. For the 2025 film, and for the 1997 version, the premise is so tantalizing. What would you do if someone knew your biggest secret and started coming after you and the people around you because of it? The setup is so fun and so real, and we knew we could deliver strongly on that.” 

A key shift in the new film would be the age of the core group – they’re in their mid to late-twenties, and the shift from four to five members.  “In the first movie, the characters are teenagers,” says Lansky. “In 2025, they’re young adults on the precipice of moving into adult phases of life – including marriage and commitment – when their lives are upended by this event. We wanted the film to reflect that maturity but also feel youthful and fun. Ultimately, this is a popcorn movie.” 

The story picks up 27 years after the events of I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), directed by Jim Gillespie and written by Kevin Williamson, with a new group of friends haunted by a familiar hook-wielding killer after covering up a fatal car accident. The 2025 film draws on the enduring appeal of teen horror, generational guilt, and the consequences of buried secrets, while bringing back original stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. to bridge the past and present.

The 2025 film is a legacy sequel—a direct continuation of I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), intentionally ignoring the events of the 2006 standalone sequel I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer.

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It reunites original stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. as Julie James and Ray Bronson, now drawn back into a familiar nightmare when a new group of teens covers up a fatal accident and begins receiving ominous messages.

This approach mirrors the successful Scream (2022) formula: blend legacy characters with a fresh cast, honour the original tone, and reframe the horror for a new generation.

Robinson constantly ups the stakes of ‘who’s next?’ and ‘whodunnit?’, as the thrills mount and we, along with the characters, try to figure out the identity of – and the mystery behind – the iconic and murderous Fisherman. Robinson defies audience expectations of when and how victims will be cut down, and by whom. Nothing is what it seems, and no one is safe. 

At the same time Robinson brings us closer, emotionally, to the characters.  

The group of five have known each other most of their lives. They’ve seen each other through many different phases and are now at crossroads, trying to figure out who they want to be for the rest of their lives.  

Robinson’s vision for the film’s look is succinct but powerful: “When you’re murdering a bunch of hot young people, you want it to have that old school Americana feel to it: blue blues, red blood, and beautiful colors and skin tones. In designing the film, it was fun to juxtapose the violence with this outwardly beautiful world of Southport, which of course has an underbelly that’s nasty, gory, and violent. I really liked that juxtaposition.” 

To ensure a summer 2025 release for the film, executive producer Karina Rahardja recalls, “We were approaching the fall in the Northern Hemisphere, and given the word summer is in the title, we started thinking about where we could go to film where it would be summer.

Horror Trends & Cultural Resonance

The 2025 revival taps into a broader trend of ’90s horror nostalgia, where franchises like Scream and Final Destination are being reimagined not just for scares, but for cultural reflection. Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and co-writer Sam Lansky lean into themes of generational guilt, digital surveillance, and performative remorse, updating the slasher formula with a psychological edge.

The film also reflects a 2025 horror landscape increasingly defined by emotional realism and trauma-driven narratives. Rather than relying solely on jump scares, it explores how secrets metastasise in the age of social media and how the sins of the past refuse to stay buried, especially when the past has a hook for a hand.

Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson emphasised that beneath the blood and jump scares lies a story about how trauma informs identity.

Like Halloween (2018), this film uses returning characters not just for nostalgia, but to explore long-term psychological fallout. Julie and Ray aren’t just survivors—they’re case studies in how guilt calcifies over time.

This sequel reflects a broader trend in horror: the shift from pure thrills to emotional realism. It’s part of a wave of films that blend slasher tropes with character-driven storytelling, where the hook isn’t just a weapon, but a metaphor for the past that won’t let go.

Then & Now: A Tale of Two Summers

1997: Secrets, Shame, and Slasher Tropes The original I Know What You Did Last Summer, penned by Scream’s Kevin Williamson, rode the wave of late-’90s teen horror. It was glossy, self-aware, and steeped in guilt—four friends haunted by a hit-and-run and stalked by a hook-wielding killer. The film tapped into post-adolescent anxiety: the fear that your worst mistake might come back to claim you. It wasn’t just about survival—it was about the cost of silence.

2025: Guilt Goes Viral Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s legacy sequel updates that fear for the digital age. The new cast isn’t just hiding a secret—they’re navigating a world where nothing stays buried, and remorse is often performative. The hook is still there, but so is the pressure of curated identities, online judgment, and generational trauma. With returning characters like Julie and Ray, the film bridges eras, asking whether we ever really escape the past—or just learn to live with it.

The writing process for I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) was rooted in both legacy and reinvention

Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, known for Do Revenge and co-writing Thor: Love and Thunder, collaborated with Sam Lansky on the screenplay, based on a story she developed with Leah McKendrick. Rather than rebooting the franchise, Robinson pitched a continuation that honoured the emotional core of the original 1997 film while updating its themes for a new generation.

The process began after the cancellation of the 2021 TV adaptation, which left the franchise in limbo. Robinson saw an opportunity to return to the original continuity, ignoring the 2006 standalone sequel and instead crafting a legacy sequel that would bring back Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. as Julie and Ray. Her approach focused on generational guilt, the permanence of digital secrets, and the psychological toll of unresolved trauma, infusing the slasher formula with emotional realism.

“Sam and I are both huge fans of the franchise, to the point where we once got in a heated argument about I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, to the point where I was like, ‘We should just go to bed and we’ll do this tomorrow.’” says Robinson.

This quote reflects the passion and stakes involved in revisiting a beloved horror legacy. Robinson and co-writer Sam Lansky reportedly traveled to Southport, North Carolina—the setting of the original film—to immerse themselves in the atmosphere. Their creative tension stemmed from differing instincts: Lansky leaned into authenticity and continuity, while Robinson wanted to recapture the fun and emotional resonance of the original without being shackled by canon.

This dynamic shaped a screenplay that balances trauma and nostalgia, horror and heart. It’s a slasher with a soul—one that knows the past can’t be buried, but maybe, just maybe, it can be rewritten.

Filming took place between October 2024 and March 2025 in New South Wales and Los Angeles, with the script evolving alongside casting and production design. The writing process emphasised character-driven horror, where the scares are as much internal as they are external.

Nostalgia in horror is a double-edged blade—both a comfort and a curse

It functions not just as a stylistic callback, but as a psychological device that deepens dread by luring us into familiarity before subverting it.

Nostalgic horror often invites us back to the “safe” spaces of our youth—sleepovers, VHS tapes, suburban streets—only to reveal that those spaces were never truly safe. Films like Stranger Things and It weaponize childhood iconography, turning bikes, basements, and best friends into conduits for trauma. The past becomes a haunted house we willingly re-enter, even knowing what lurks inside.

Legacy sequels like Scream (2022) or I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) use nostalgia to re-engage audiences emotionally and thematically. They don’t just reference earlier films—they interrogate them. These stories ask: what happens when the rules of the past no longer apply? When the final girl grows up? When the trauma doesn’t fade?

As explored in academic critiques, horror can fall into toxic nostalgia—idealizing the past while ignoring its darker truths (e.g., gender roles, racial erasure). But when done well, nostalgia becomes transformative: a way to confront generational wounds, reframe cultural myths, and reclaim agency. Think of it as horror’s version of therapy—reliving the past not to escape it, but to rewrite it.

Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is a celebrated filmmaker with a unique voice keenly in tune with the social zeitgeist.

Known for fusing biting wit with raw vulnerability, Robinson has spent the last decade crafting stories that speak directly to—and about—the moment, resonating deeply with audiences worldwide. 

Robinson is also known for her sophomore directorial feature DO REVENGE, for Netflix, for which she also produced and penned the script. The film is a darkly comedic high school reimagining of Hitchcock’s STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. DO REVENGE, which features an all-star cast, including Camila Mendes, Maya Hawke, Rish Shah, Austin Abrams, Talia Ryder, Alisha Boe, Sophie Turner, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, debuted at #1 globally on Netflix and became a cultural hit, lauded for its satire and sharp visual style. The Atlantic called it “viciously funny,” and The New York Times named Robinson “a rare filmmaker able to deliver teen chaos with style and substance.”  

Her feature directorial debut, SOMEONE GREAT, which she also wrote, premiered globally on Netflix to critical acclaim and remains a beloved entry in the canon of modern romantic comedies. The ensemble cast includes Gina Rodriguez, Brittany Snow, DeWanda Wise, LaKeith Stanfield, and RuPaul. A vibrant ode to friendship, heartbreak, and new beginnings, the film drew praise for its fresh tone and raw emotional authenticity. Variety described it as a “refreshingly honest portrait of how we change — and what we choose to hold on to — in the wake of heartbreak”; Rolling Stone claimed, “Robinson understands the rhythms of modern relationships and the bonds between women better than most.” The film’s influence rippled into pop culture – Taylor Swift even cited it as inspiration for her song “Death By a Thousand Cuts.” 

Robinson is also the creator and executive producer of MTV’s SWEET/VICIOUS, a critically acclaimed series praised for its portrayal of sexual assault on college campuses. The series — which holds a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes — garnered a passionate fanbase and became a cultural touchstone for survivor-centered storytelling. In 2017, Robinson was invited to speak at Vice President Joe Biden’s final It’s On Us summit at the White House, honoring her advocacy for survivors and the show’s social impact. Robinson was also named one of Variety’s 10 TV Writers to Watch in 2016, pegged to the release of the series.  

Her additional credits include co-writing the screenplay, with Oscar-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi, for Marvel’s THOR: LOVE & THUNDER, which grossed over $760 million worldwide; and co-writing the screenplay for the Max original feature UNPREGNANT.  

A visionary with a decade-spanning body of work, Robinson has consistently challenged genre norms, blended comedy with pathos, and shaped cultural entertainment through sharp dialogue, exceptional female leads, and an undeniably authentic voice. She continues to evolve as one of the most exciting filmmakers of her generation. 

SAM LANSKY (Screenwriter) is a screenwriter, author and journalist. In 2021, he was named one of Variety’s 10 Storytellers to Watch.  

Lansky is the author of two books: a 2016 memoir, The Gilded Razor, published by Simon & Schuster, and a 2020 novel, Broken People, published by HarperCollins. In journalism, Lansky spent seven years as the West Coast Editor of TIME, where he remains a contributing editor. He wrote the 2023 profile of Taylor Swift, naming her TIME’s Person of the Year. 

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