It took me a long time to actually visit Freaky as the concept of body swapping triggers some deep, primal fear I have about being possessed or losing control of myself and my identity. And while Freaky Friday falls into the same trope, I never had as much of an issue because the subjects of the swap were a mother and daughter. And while family dynamics don’t always have to have the promise of security and safety, that dynamic paired with Disney gave me the comfort of nothing too bad happening as they would want the best for each other. Additionally, it was two women swapping, so surely there was some safety net of even if our main character was out of control with her body, it wouldn’t be too bad.
The same concept is in Freaky, where our main character Millie (Kathryn Newton, Cinema Cemetery’s little darling), the sweetest but most bullied girl in the entire town, swaps bodies with an adult – the only difference is, this adult is not her mother nor even another woman, but an adult, male serial killer known popularly as The Butcher (Vince Vaughn). I read that concept and thought ‘absolutely not’. Surely this movie was not made for me.
But how wrong I was.
Freaky explores girlhood in a way that I never expected. Millie is so severely bullied by almost everyone in town, from the popular girls in high school, to teachers, to her becoming a targeted victim of the Butcher. She’s sweet, she’s kind, but she is so put upon that I think a lot of teenage girls, and any adult who had that disposition in their youth, can easily find themselves in. Before the body swap, we see her at her lowest point of helplessness, about to be murdered with no one around her. When the swap happens, Millie is suddenly a middle aged serial killer who is not only in hiding but has to find her original body and swap back or she will be stuck in there forever (This movie’s concept is my sleep paralysis demon, I swear). And while this is a horror movie and that is a horrific concept, there is a silver lining – Millie gets the protection of being a middle aged, white man. Suddenly she is not targeted by the bullies, she is the bully – a power she never uses to harm, but to empower herself. Unlike Freaky Friday, this movie is not about seeing things from another person’s perspective, but about finding the power you already had in yourself once you, in this case literally, get out of your own head. Being able to so freely be open and be herself, despite being trapped, Millie is able to feel more confident and comfortable in her own skin (kind of), and while you desperately want her to switch back, the audience is grateful this happened as it likely never would have been a possibility for Millie otherwise. Vince Vaughn, additionally, plays the role so earnestly. There is no condescension or being spoken down to, he is a confused, terrified, but ultimately determined teenage girl who just wants her life back. His authentic and, honestly, loving performance elevates a really fun horror concept into something that can resonate with young people who are marginalized and bullied on a daily basis. This movie does not rely on cheap gender jokes to carry the comedy across.
That is for the absolutely over the top kills and Kathryn Newton as the Butcher…as Millie.
Newton is having the time of her life and perfectly captures the menacing nature of the Butcher, who in turn is playing up the whole idea of being this little, innocent, girl. She is a total badass who kills Millie’s tormenters in the most over the top ways that I haven’t seen since Gingerdead Man (no, I’m not reviewing it). My personal favourite is, spoilers, when she cuts her douchebag shop teacher in half with a saw. It’s so fun, so gross, and so ridiculous that it makes it so much fun. The Butcher, in this universe, feels like this secret hero in Millie’s life as he annihilates everyone who wants to hurt her (including those three guys at the dance who want to sexually assault her which, honestly? Good for him.)
More spoilers, but watching Millie get her body back and then finally murk the Butcher as he taunts her for being so weak and pathetic, is so fucking great. This girl is getting her life back and finding herself. This movie is so much more than the sum of it’s parts, and they were pretty great parts to start with. Freaky is more than just a ‘Freaky Friday but Freakier!’ movie. This taking something about a mother and daughter learning from each other’s perspectives to a girl feeling safe in her own skin and finding her voice – so, hot take, it’s the better Freaky Friday. Plus there’s all the fun of a horror movie in here—SOMEONE GETS SAWED IN HALF. With the already horrifying concept of body swapping, Freaky takes the genre where it really has always needed to go and makes it better.
Wonderfully acted, wonderfully directed, camp and gross in all the best ways, Freaky is something I never thought I would like but honestly found tremendous validation in. A concept that still horrifies me to my core, yet I think this could become a comfort movie for me.
And that’s the freakiest part of all.