Millie Kessler (played by Kathryn Newton) is a bit of an outcast at school and lives with her widowed, alcoholic mother, Coral (played by Katie Finneran) and her police officer sister, Char (played by Dana Drori). She has two close knit friends in Nyla Chones (played by Celeste O'Connor) and Josh Detmer (played by Misha Osherovich). Among her problems is her abusive and unsympathetic shop teacher Mr. Bernardi (played by Alan Ruck). After the Homecoming football game, where Millie participated as the school mascot, she is waiting alone for her mom to come pick her up when she encounters the Blissfield Butcher (played by Vince Vaughn), a killer who according to local legend terrorizes area teens around Homecoming. She attempts to flee but is still in her mascot costume so he quickly catches up and manages to stab Millie in the shoulder with a dagger he stole from a previous victim's house. The weird thing is when he stabs her, the exact same wound appears on his shoulder. He's about to stab her again when Char, having come to pick up Millie since their mom was passed out on the couch, shows up and scares him off. Things take a turn for the strange when the next morning Millie wakes up in the hulking, 6ft 4in and very male body of the Blissfield Butcher while at the same time he wakes up in her body. Horrified, she quickly seeks out Nyla and Josh and after eventually convincing them he is indeed their friend Millie, they have to try and figure out what happened and try to get the two switched back before the switch becomes permanent as well as stop the Blissfield Butcher from carving up their classmates, especially Millie's crush Booker Strode (played by Uriah Shelton).
The film was directed by Christopher Landon from a script he wrote with Michael Kennedy. They manage to craft a film that balances the comedy and horror elements well even as the film leans harder on the comedic side. But it works because the premise of the film allows for the silliness as Millie gets used to her new body as well as the Butcher finding himself in the body of a teenage girl. The film does get pretty gruesome but much of it is played with an over the top quality that only adds to the crazy fun of the film. They also work in some clever nods to classic slasher movies of the past, especially Halloween, Scream, and especially Friday the 13th. In fact, I got a good laugh out of the fact that the bulk of the movie takes place on Friday, October 13th which would make this, you guessed it, Freaky Friday the 13th (which was even the original title of the movie until they had to change it, for obvious reasons). Yet, they also manage to make the more heartfelt moments work in the film as well, which helps ground things amongst all the mayhem and shenanigans and give the film some real stakes.
The film has a fantastic cast starting off with the two leads. Kathryn Newton does really well as both the quiet and more reserved Millie capturing her lack of confidence and trouble with confrontation. Yet, she also nails the role of the mostly quiet and exceptionally lethal Blissfield Butcher after the switch has been made. There is also a clear difference in how her character walks and acts in each case depending on if it's Millie or the Butcher. Likewise Vince Vaughn captures each role quite well, really capturing the danger and evil of the Butcher but then on the other side clearly having a ball playing Millie and is a blast to watch him play a teenage girl stuck in the body of a middle age man is endlessly amusing to me, especially with how Vince Vaughn plays her. Misha Osherovich is a hoot as Mille's openly gay friend Josh. He really captures the bitchy best friend perfectly and yet remains quite lovable throughout the film. Celeste O'Connor likewise does well as Nyla, clearly the more even handed of the trio. Alan Ruck plays against type as the downright mean shop teacher who loves to antagonize Millie. It's clear he is relishing the role and is downright detestable, yet really effective in the role. It's always fun to watch a well-known actor play a role different than their usual type, as is the case here.
Overall, Freaky is one of the best comedy-horror films to come out in quite awhile. The jokes land and the horror aspects work well too. The film keeps a brisk pace as our intrepid characters deal with their very unusual predicament. It's just a blast to watch from beginning to end and never takes itself too seriously. If you're looking for a fun horror movie to watch with friends over Halloween weekend, this one would be an great choice.
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