- Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn.
- July 2nd 2021
- Christopher Landon
Kathryn Newton swaps bodies with Vince Vaughn’s serial killer in this hilarious slasher comedy.
There have been some great body-swap films throughout the years – Freaky Friday, Big, 17 Again – and now Freaky can be added to that list.
This horror-comedy tells the story of The Butcher (Vince Vaughn), a serial killer who pops up in Blissfield around Homecoming and kills a bunch of high school kids.
But he makes a mistake when he attempts to kill Millie (Kathryn Newton) using a sacrificial knife, and instead of murdering her, they swap bodies.
Millie – now looking like The Butcher – must convince her friends of the swap and make a plan to stop the killer (now looking like Millie) before he strikes again.
Body swaps always have so much potential for comedy and that is certainly the case here. Not all the jokes work but the success radio was still pretty high.
It was a genius move casting a man as tall and well-built as Vaughn to play an awkward high school girl and his performance is hilarious.
He really threw himself into the role and nailed Millie’s persona – the pitch of his voice, how he delivers his lines, how he holds his arms/hands, runs, claps and squeals are all perfect.
Vaughn has the showier part and gets more to play with than Newton. When she becomes The Butcher, she just dresses more confidently, barely speaks, has an evil look in her eye and walks in a slow, lumbering manner with hunched shoulders.
There are plenty of supporting stars who deserve praise too – there’s Millie’s gay best friend Josh (Misha Osherovich), who delivers a lot of laughs too, Celeste O’Connor as the smart best friend Nyla, Katie Finneran as Millie’s grieving widow mum Coral, Dana Drori as Millie’s older sister Charlene and Uriah Shelton as her love interest Booker.
This film isn’t scary but it’s extremely violent and gory, with some of the kills being more hardcore than you might expect.
There is also more heart to this than you would predict and addresses the death of Millie’s father in a surprisingly heartfelt way.
Freaky is an absolute blast and such an entertaining cinema trip. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for all the references to classic slasher films!
In cinemas from Friday 2nd July.
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