Freakier Friday: Disney+ Movie Review

Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Julia Butters, Manny Jacinto, Sophia Hammons

Director: Nisha Ganatra

It's time to get your freaky back on as the much-awaited sequel arrives.

Two decades on from when daughter Anna (Lohan) and mother Tess (Curtis) switched for one day, the pair are back.

Tess is now an author and podcaster who is also gaining some traction as a therapist, whereas Anna is now in the mother role, having given up on her musical dreams, but working in the music industry and trying to parent a wayward surfing-obsessed child, Harper (Butters).

When Harper's forced to become friends with her class rival Lily (Hammons), the pair end up falling out in a major way that sees their parents summoned to the school - and whose meet-cute ends up in soon-to-be marriage much to the horror of their children.

Things get worse when during Anna's engagement party, all four of them end up swapping bodies just days out from the wedding...

Freakier Friday would be nothing without the game performance of a hilarious Curtis, who obviously plays up the shock of being trapped in an older body with all the obvious edges of an ageism-riddled script, but sitll manages to emerge with some dignity.

From an early comment about her skin decomposing to a withering put-down of those still using Facebook, Curtis' comedy chops and experience bring great stall to a story that really doesn't have anywhere new to go given its constraints.

Most of the better part of the film is centred on the youngsters embodying the older bodies, but it's fairly low-hanging fruit that plays to the bond between Lohan and Curtis - and builds on the chemistry from the 2003 first outing.

Yet with very little tension and a tirelessly cheesy script that surrounds the rest of it, large swathes of this family friendly fare depend on how far your good will is willing to extend.

But as it leans into the nostalgia of the first and the obvious generational potshots, it's clear it's a film that doesn't really have anywhere dramatically to go - learnings are had, feelings and conflicts are resolved and the body-swap genre isn't troubled by any major reinventions.

It's just a shame that it doesn't cut loose more and embrace some of the freakier edges to ensure it's a memorable return, rather than an occasionally tolerable one.

Freakier Friday is streaming on Disney+ from November 12.