On Saturday night I watched a film that if it weren’t for Mrs Screen Room Movie Blog’s insistence that we watch it, I probably never would have.
Freaky (2020)
I really like Vince Vaughan but this was one that didn’t overly appeal to me even after seeing the trailer. As it happens though, I quite enjoyed it.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s a comedy/Horror/Thriller starring Vince Vaughan (Wedding Crashers) and Kathryn Newton (Pokémon Detective Pikachu) with supporting roles from Celeste O'Connor (Ghostbusters: Afterlife), Misha Osherovich (The Goldfinch) and Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) among others.
This is what it’s about:
When Seventeen-year-old Millie Kessler becomes the latest target of “the Butcher”, the town's infamous serial killer, his mystical dagger causes he and Millie to magically switch bodies. The frightened teen soon learns she has just 24 hours to get her identity back before she looks like a middle-aged maniac forever.
I know we’ve all seen these body switcheroo movies tonnes of times before but this one has a slightly different and darker twist.
Yes it’s silly, but it knows what it is and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Vince Vaughan is actually pretty funny playing a teenage girl in a grown man’s body and it makes for some entertaining (and cringy) moments in the film. His performance is reminiscent of Jack Black’s portrayal of “Bethany” in the latest Jumanji films. He’s so good in fact that at some points you kind of forget that’s he’s not actually a teenage girl.
On the other side, Kathryn Newton plays a deranged serial killer really convincingly (not that I’ve ever met one) and dispatches some of her victims in a variety of interestingly gruesome ways.
It’s also interesting to see the two characters adapting to and embracing being in a body that neither is familiar with, especially when it comes to Newton’s character who as a formally 6’ 5”, 200 pound man, isn’t used to being overpowered so easily.
This is very much a “what you see is what you get” movie. It’s probably not gonna blow anyone away but it made for some easy entertainment in my house at the weekend.
If you like body-swap movies like Freaky Friday, The Change-Up and Vice Versa but with a load of blood and violence thrown in, you might want to give this one a watch.
If you’ve got Sky TV it’s available to watch on Sky Cinema.
Seen it? Let me know your thoughts.