Warning: This post contains spoilers for the ending of “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
The sequel to “I Know What You Did Last Summer” ends in an ambitious twist that no one saw coming, including star Chase Sui Wonders.
“We got the scripts initially, and I flipped back through it to make sure, like, is this actually what is happening? That is, honestly, what really drew me to the project,” Wonders told TODAY.com following her appearance on the 3rd Hour of TODAY on July 21.
Wonders said writer and director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson “was not afraid” to “really just kind of turn the original movie inside out.”
“With so much IP floating around, in order to break through the mold, you have to do something surprising that’s truly worth reviving the whole iconic original,” she said.
Here’s what happens at the end of “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
What Is ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ About?
The sequel to the 1997 film “I Know What You Did Last Summer” unfolds in Southport, North Carolina, where a serial killer nicknamed the Fisherman once preyed on the group of 20-somethings.
Now, the Fisherman is back, but targeting a new photogenic friend group. Wonders’ character, Ava, is back in her hometown for a friend’s engagement party when the consequences of their actions the summer prior come back to haunt them.
What did they do last summer, exactly? Friends Ava Brucks, Danica Richards (Madelyn Cline), Ava’s ex-boyfriend Milo Griffin (Jonah Hauer-King) and Danica’s fiancé Teddy Spencer (Tyriq Withers) were driving on the Fourth of July to see the town fireworks. They also picked up Stevie Ward (Sarah Pidgeon), a former friend who had recently gotten out of rehab.
Teddy, driving the full car, was drunk and high when he came to Reaper’s Curve, the same blind spot at the heart of the 1997 movie.
Teddy ended up running a man named Sam Cooper off the road, and Teddy’s father, Grant Spencer (Billy Campbell), was able to cover up what happened. A property developer and survivor of the 1997 killings, Grant is also trying to hide the town’s history.
But some things can’t remain hidden. A year later, the friends start dying, one by one.
Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt reprise their roles as Ray Bronson and Julie James, the survivors of the 1997 killer, who end up being roped back in to help the new group of targets.
What is the Twist in ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’?
We find out who the Fisherman killer is — and it hits close to home.
Many killings have already taken place by the time the revelations unfold, with three unfolding in close succession at the end. After being released from a police precinct, Danica and Ava find Teddy and his real-estate father, Grant, slain and hung up at the Southport marina. Immediately running to a police car, they find Ava’s ex Milo dead.
In shock and grief, they, along with Stevie, flee to a yacht at Ray Bronson’s and make their escape. Out at sea on Ray’s boat, Stevie confesses to being the killer. Gasp!
Turns out Sam, the man who Teddy ran off the road the summer before, had been Stevie’s boyfriend. They had met at a church group during at a low point for Stevie: She was fresh out of rehab and felt that her friends had abandoned her.
In the car and feeling uncomfortable, Stevie had texted Sam to pick her up. Sam died on his way to her. Stevie only found out he was in the car later, but she was set on revenge.
She’s not alone. Ava figures out that Ray — yes, the Ray from the 1997 movie — was in on it with Stevie all along.
Ray was Stevie’s boss at the bar where she worked and became like a surrogate father for her. He vowed to stop at nothing to ensure Stevie’s happiness, even if that included killing the friends who abandoned her at the time she needed them most.
Ray was also stuck in the past, unable to move on from the 1997 murders, even if the rest of the town was. He expresses his rage that Grant, the (now dead) developer, has gentrified the town, overshadowing the trauma that he and his friends experienced.
Ava, with Julie’s last-minute help, kills Ray with a speargun.
“It felt very euphoric, honestly, because doing stunts is such a thrill it has,” Wonders told TODAY.com. “There’s so much adrenaline involved that it just inherently adds to the whole journey that the character has been through — getting to slash, stab and knee in the nuts.”
But how could Ray, once terrorized by a killer, become one himself?
“I think hurt people hurt people. He’s a deeply damaged person,” Wonders said. “I think that was what allowed Freddie to want to come back. He has a truly fleshed-out, unexpected character arc that is not what you would conventionally expect.”
Will There Be a Sequel?
Ava and Danica, who survives the squabble, have a conversation at the end of the movie that hints at a sequel.
Ray had said that Stevie was still alive — even though he appeared to shoot her in the head. Ava and Danica joke about how they should finish the job. But are they joking?
Already, by killing Ray, Ava has turned into a killer. Will she kill again?
The movie is about “catching people that have just been wrung dry by trauma, and how you don’t even understand your trauma response can affect your actions,” Wonders said.
She teased that there’s more planned in store for future installments as well.
“We gotta get your butts in those seats so the box office Gods allow us to make a second one,” Wonders said. “I think it’s going to make for a really interesting continuation.”
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