TyriqWithers – Credits Rolling

Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe) returns to her hometown after five years in prison. After driving under the influence with her boyfriend Scotty Landry (Rudy Pankow), the two are in a car accident that ultimately kills Scotty. Pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter, Kenna now hopes to make amends and she wants to start by reconnecting with her daughter Diem (Zoe Kosovic). But Scotty’s parents Grace (Lauren Graham) and Patrick (Bradley Whitford) don’t think it’s a good idea. When Kenna sparks up a friendship with Ledger Ward (Tyriq Withers), local bar owner and Scotty’s best friend, she hopes that he’ll help change the Landry’s mind about her.

The third of Colleen Hoover’s novels to get the big screen treatment, Reminders of Him was actually the first I read from her. I was curious to see how they would tackle it. From the romance to the not so easy subject matter, it was pretty much how I expected it would be. Hoover adaptions are starting to have the same sort of formula though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was a perfectly fine outing to the cinema.

Monroe, who is more commonly known in the horror genre, tries her luck in the romance field. She does a good job as Kenna, bringing a likability to her character. It’s obvious that she’s made mistakes, but she doesn’t want these to define her. I liked seeing her get her life back on track whether that included finding a job, befriending some of the fellow residents at her apartment complex (Jennifer Roberts and Monika Myers are standouts as Ruth Clayton and Lady Diana), and taking in a cat. Withers, another horror face, is also trying something new here. Although I wasn’t convinced by his powerful scenes, I did buy his chemistry with Monroe and thought they worked well together. Graham and Whitford were solid as the grieving parents who aren’t quite ready to move on. Graham, in particular, really impressed me with her emotional turn.

While there is no doubt about the romance element, I did think that the film excelled when it focused more on the family drama. Both biological and found family are explored here and even though they did a good job, I think it could have been even more impactful. I would have liked a scene between Kenna and Patrick, for example, where he forgave her. It also would have been nice to see a few more flashbacks between Scotty and his parents as the only one we got was the day of his birthday. That being said, I was appreciative of the flashbacks we did get because they helped fill in the blanks and also gave more backstory to these characters.

If you are looking for an uplifting film about family, love and second chances, then you should check out Reminders of Him. It may be a little bit on the slower side, but the payoff is mostly worth it. It’s not my favorite CoHo film to date, but I still thought it was a decent adaptation.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

Thirty years after the original, I Know What You Did Last Summer has been given the legacy sequel treatment. When a group of friends inadvertently cause a car accident, they make a pact that they will never discuss the events of that night. One year later they discover that someone knows what they did and this person is hellbent on revenge.

I only got around to seeing the first two films about a month ago. My first foray into this franchise was with the 2021 television series. When I heard that a sequel was being made and that it featured a bunch of actors that I like, I decided to finally do my homework. These films were right up my alley which I guess is no surprise considering the creator, Kevin Williamson, was also behind Scream.

This new version was a total blast. Right from the beginning we are brought into the lives of this new group of friends: Ava (Chase Sui Wonders), Danica (Madelyn Cline), Milo (Jonah Hauer-King), Teddy (Tyriq Withers) and Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon) and the night that changes their lives forever. Though the acting chops weren’t the best, I absolutely loved every moment that Cline was on screen. Danica had so many fabulous one liners that were delivered flawlessly. I also thought Wonders did a decent job as our leading lady.

With any legacy sequel there needs to be plenty of callbacks to the original. The major one here was the return of Jennifer Love Hewitt as Julie James and Freddie Prinze Jr. as Ray Bronson. This was the series that catapulted them to stardom and seeing them back in these iconic roles was truly brilliant. My crush on Prinze Jr. was also reignited throughout the almost two hour runtime.

It was obvious pretty early on that the stakes were so much higher. There were so many jump scares and the kills themselves were way more gory and surprising. I can’t lie and say that I wasn’t closing my eyes during many of them. Where the film dwindles is in its final act when one of the twists comes so out of left field it will certainly leave viewers divided. I was completely shocked, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I do think it could have been explained better though.

Overall I Know What You Did Last Summer may not have been necessary, but I had a great time with it. I felt like it did a great job encapsulating that nineties feeling and went full force on the slasher front. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it didn’t have to be.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5