Freaky

A teenage girl and a serial killer undergo an accidental body swap in Christopher Landon’s twist on a classic formula.

For about 10 years Vince Vaughn was the clown prince of mid-tier comedy. Leading parts (Old School, Dodgeball), supporting roles (Mr and Mrs Smith, Anchorman), cameos (Zoolander) – he played them all, and became a part of the Hollywood set dubbed ‘The Frat Pack’ alongside Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, the Wilson brothers and Jack Black.

But as the bro comedy died a death, Vaughn’s roles changed too; his stark appearances in Brawl in Cellblock 99 and Dragged Across Concrete were a far cry from the halcyon days when the Wilson-Vaughn partnership was going strong.

It’s a pleasant surprise to see Vaughn having some fun again then, and Freaky feels much closer in tone to his earlier work than his recent output. From the mind that brought us Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U comes a twist on Mary Rodgers’s body swap novel Freaky Friday, which sees Vaughn play a serial killer who switches bodies with his teenage victim.

An absurd – but promising! – concept, with a solid cast: rising star Kathryn Newton plays the student in question, Millie Kessler, while Celeste O’Connor and Misha Osherovich are great as her best friends. But it’s Vaughn’s vehicle, and he plays a teenage girl surprisingly well, adopting familiar mannerisms and vocal patterns to winning effect. Unwillingly inhabiting the body of the ‘Blissfield Butcher’ and now framed for his crimes, Millie has to work to reclaim her body, while the psychopath using it starts stalking her classmates.

There are some gross-out murder scenes which will satisfy the horror set, and Vaughn is clearly having a blast while Newton gets an opportunity to vamp it up as an almost silent stalker. They make for a charismatic duo, and there’s definitely some fun to be had here, but the thrills fade pretty fast once it’s all over.

Recycling familiar tropes is enjoyable up to a point, but Freaky’s script is weak even with its sharp cast; it feels like there should be more possible with such a twisted concept. But Landon and his co-writer Michael Kennedy are more interested in quippy lines that don’t always land and gross-out stunts than the potential of the premise. It might make for a fun date night movie, but Freaky isn’t half as odd as it could be, and it’s less satisfying as a result.

Published 2 Jul 2021

Tags: Kathryn Newton Vince Vaughn