SPOILER WARNING: The following article accommodates large spoilers for I Know What You Did Last Summer. Severely, when you haven’t seen the movie, you actually shouldn’t be studying this… however proceed at your individual danger!
We’ve got seen a large number of legacyquels within the final 15 years, however none of them efficiently pull off a twist like what audiences expertise in author/director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s I Know What You Did Last Summer. Whereas it’s often the case that legacy characters principally exist to tie the story of the brand new technology to the previous, the brand new horror film opts to go a lot bolder: whereas Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Julie James retains her Ultimate Lady standing, the movie reveals that Freddie Prinze Jr.’s Ray Bronson has misplaced his thoughts and options him as one among two killers (the opposite being Sarah Pidgeon’s Stevie Ward).
It’s an sudden and well-invited shock when it’s revealed within the third act, and one among my favourite elements of the film (as I tease in my spoiler-free CinemaBlend assessment of I Know What You Did Last Summer). Not solely does the event really feel natural, however Freddie Prinze Jr. actually sells it – which I realized throughout an interview with the actor was the results of him going deep emotionally to know Ray’s journey from hero to villain.
How Ray Bronson Turns into A Killer In I Know What You Did Last Summer
For many of Ray Bronson’s display screen time in 2025’s I Know What You Did Last Summer, he looks like a fairly put collectively dude – albeit one with a few chips on his shoulder. He runs his personal bar, and he looks like a constructive mentor to Stevie, his worker, nevertheless it’s additionally made very clear that issues didn’t finish effectively in his marriage to Julie James, and he has lengthy been upset that the city of Southport, North Carolina went above and past to comb the entire murders that occurred in 1997 underneath the rug.
Because it seems, these chips on his shoulder ought to have been acknowledged as crimson flags. Ray’s relationship with Julie didn’t work out due to his seething anger, and the anger he has lengthy harbored towards the city finally ends up not simply being idle and self-harming. His rage finally ends up being infectious virus that he spreads to Stevie, they usually work collectively to take revenge on Southport and Stevie’s former pals.
Freddie Prinze Jr. Examined His Associates’ Damaged Relationships And Trauma To Get At The Coronary heart Of What Occurred To Ray
When an individual experiences an especially traumatic occasion, it has been confirmed that it’s best for them to not simply bottle up all of their emotions. If these feelings aren’t correctly tackle, they’ll find yourself turning into poisonous and do critical harm. Ray Bronson proves to be a dictionary-worthy case of his psychological phenomenon within the I Know What You Did Last Summer legacyquel, and it’s one thing during which Freddie Prinze Jr. discovered a whole lot of honesty as he was making ready for his efficiency.
Late final month, I had the pleasure of interviewing the actor alongside Jennifer Kaytin Robinson through the Los Angeles press day for his new movie, and whereas digging into spoiler territory, I requested him about his view on what’s been happening with Ray since audiences final bought to see him in I Nonetheless Know What You Did Last Summer. Prinze Jr. has been married for the final 23 years to his I Know What You Did Last Summer co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar, however he famous that he is aware of individuals who had troubled relationships a la Ray and Julie, and his character’s issues began together with his lack of ability to correctly course of being hunted by a serial killer as a young person. Stated the actor,
I have a whole lot of pals whose relationships did not work out for a plethora of causes. And generally it is trauma and never coping with that trauma, and that that type of shortens your fuse over years and little issues begin setting you off, and it is not likely linked to what simply occurred. It is linked to one thing that occurred years in the past.
It’s a cliché, however the phrase “Damage folks damage folks” is a cliché for a cause: if a person doesn’t correctly course of their very own ache, they’re extra liable to inflict ache on others. Within the instances of some folks, that’s restricted to emotional ache, however within the case of Ray Bronson, he’s skulking round Southport carrying a slicker and killing of us with a hook and a harpoon gun.
Freddie Prinze Jr. added that the fabric was heavy, however he has an excessive amount of enjoyable getting the chance to discover the character after which apply what he had found in his efficiency:
There’s a whole lot of bringing that to work with you, which is not enjoyable. However in between the phrases motion and minimize, it is a blast since you get to form of exhibit it and execute it and present folks what you’ve got ready, after which, hopefully, you are in a position to form of let all that go and see what occurs within the second. You know what I imply? All of it is determined by how the times circulation. And it dictates on how far you go in a scene.
Concluding, the actor defined that Ray was a comparatively put collectively man after we bought to see him by the occasions of the unique I Know What You Did Last Summer and I Nonetheless Know What You Did Last Summer… however there was a degree within the two-and-a-half many years that adopted the place he simply snapped. When Freddie Prinze Jr. understood that and how one can play it, all of it clicked:
However as soon as I knew the explanation why and I knew how I may play a damaged man – ‘trigger that is what Ray is at this level. He is not this blue collar hero anymore. He has been damaged by this. He did not cope with it. And trauma both makes you or breaks you. I know people who it is made stronger, and I know people who it is damaged in two, and that is so spoiler-y. However yeah. Hopefully this comes out after the film. He is a damaged man, and that is the consequence.
In the event you’re curious how understanding concerning the darkish journey of Ray Bronson impacts the viewing expertise of I Know What You Did Last Summer, the brand new horror film is now enjoying in theaters all over the place – having positioned third on the field workplace in its opening weekend.