Why is “I Know What You Did Last Summer” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “bloody horror violence, language throughout, some sexual content and brief drug use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of sex scenes between two women and a man and a woman with partial nudity, a couple of kissing scenes, many scenes of people being killed with spears fired from spear guns and stabbed and slashed with large meat hooks with bloody wounds shown, a car accident that leaves the driver dead after driving over a cliff, many discussions about lying about traumatic events and taking responsibility, several arguments and at least 40 F-words. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Remake of the eponymous 1997 movie: An anonymous card is opened during a wedding shower and the recipient is alarmed when the message inside brings back horrifying memories from the year before, when she and her friends took part in covering up an incident that left a young man dead. It seems that someone might be out for revenge. With Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt and Joshua Orpin. Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. [Running Time: 1:51]

I Know What You Did Last Summer SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A man and a woman talk and act awkwardly in a bedroom, they kiss, they remove their shirts (we see the woman wearing a bra with cleavage and bare abdomen exposed and the man is bare-chested), the woman places the man’s hand on her throat and tells him to choke her and punish her, saying “I deserve it,” causing him to stop and leave the room. A woman standing in a public restroom moans as another woman stands up from below the frame (implying oral sex) and they kiss passionately.
► A man and woman snuggle in a bed. A man and a woman snuggle and kiss in a chair.
► Many women at a party wear low-cut, backless and off-the-shoulder dresses that reveal cleavage, bare backs, and the sides of a woman’s bare breasts. Women wear low-cut tops and dresses that reveal cleavage, bare abdomens, backs and shoulders in many scenes throughout the movie. A woman wears a short skirt that reveals her bare legs to the upper thighs. Women wear swimsuits at a party and we see cleavage, bare abdomens, bare backs and legs to the hips with partial buttocks revealed. Several men are shown wearing towels around their waists while sitting in a sauna (bare chests, abdomens, and legs to the upper thighs are seen).

I Know What You Did Last Summer VIOLENCE/GORE 8

 – A man is shot through the back with a spear gun (we see the point protruding from his shoulder and blood on his shirt), he pulls the spear out with a crunch and he is then shot in the abdomen; the attacker pulls the line and the injured man slides along the floor (blood is seen on the floor, on his clothing and dribbling from his mouth), and the attacker raises a large hook in the air and the scene cuts away (we later see the dead man with blood on his face and body). A person swings a large hook toward a woman and she slashes the person with a knife, she tries to run away and a fish trap is dropped over her as the attacker chases another woman; she then walks through a storage room with mannequins covered in plastic and the attacker stabs her through the abdomen with the hook (we see her dead later hanging over a railing outside the building). A man is stabbed through the back and we see blood on his chest, he punches the attacker and he is stabbed in the abdomen and the leg (we see blood); as he continues to punch the attacker he spits blood when he is stabbed again, and the injured man crawls on the ground calling for help but his cries are drowned out by fireworks; another man finds him outside as he coughs blood and dies in his arms and the second man is stabbed through the throat with a large hook (we see blood and hear tearing).
► An attacker wraps a rope around a man’s throat and pulls it tight, the man struggles and gasps, we hear a crack and the man falls still (we see him dead later with a bloody wound on his throat). A man holds a gun on an attacker and the attacker pushes a hook into a woman’s chest and throws her overboard as the man shoots the attacker who is also thrown overboard. An attacker swings a hook at a woman in a dark cemetery, she fends off the attacker and runs away, enters a building, finds a phone that is not working, and hides as the attacker walks through the room; the attacker pushes the hook into the place where the woman is hiding and pulls her out, slams her head against a metal frame and prepares to stab her when a man slams into the attacker and pushes the attacker off a platform.
► A man with a knife chases a woman, he slashes at her, she holds him off, he pins her on the floor and presses the knife toward her, she knees him in the groin, and he stabs her in the back (we hear a crunch). A man is shot through the back with a spear gun and blood spurts as he falls to the floor dead. An attacker swings a large hook at a woman and says, “I want you to die.”
► A man stands on a road at a blind curve in a narrow road with a steep drop-off and a car speeds around the turn nearly hitting the man until another man pushes him out of the way; another car speeds around the corner, nearly hits the man and crashes through the guardrail before tipping over the side and crashing to the ground below (we see the driver with a bloody head and face and he is still alive as the car falls).
► A man and woman walk through a cemetery and ask a man to check CCTV video to see who left flowers on a grave; the man leaves and is attacked by a person that slashes his throat (blood spurts on TV screens). A woman stands alone in a cemetery as it gets dark, fog rolls through the area, thunder rumbles and unusual sounds are heard in the distance. A man sees the words, “You’re next” written in condensation on a window and becomes nervous. Two women go to the police to ask for help and are locked in a room; they panic and try to get out.
► Two men are shown strung up on a fishing dock like large fish as a crowd gathers and a woman screams in terror. A man is seen on his knees at a church’s altar and we see that he has been stabbed through the chest and his eyes appear to be missing (a lot of blood and his empty eye sockets are shown). A woman screams when she finds a man dead in the back of a car and we see his grey-tinged skin. A woman is shown lying motionless on a beach and she coughs out water as she revives.
► A woman has a nightmare and sees a woman’s face transform from bloody to rapidly decaying leaving a grey skeletal head. A woman has a flashback to an incident where we see a woman screaming and a person is dead in a cooler filled with crabs. A man riding in a car pretends that something is in the road causing the driver to slam on the brakes and swerve on the road. Two women leave a hospital, both appear injured with bruised faces, and one has her arm in a sling.
► A woman searches through papers in a man’s office and hides in a closet when he returns unexpectedly. Five people argue at the scene of an accident and promise to never talk about an incident where a person died. A man yells at four people to get off his boat. A woman seems frightened by a card that she opens that reads, “I know what you did last summer.” A woman looks at a photo of her mother and says that she misses her, implying that she has died. A man tells a woman that she is safe with him and that he will not bail on her. A woman says that a place is so beautiful that it makes her want to die. A woman screams as part of a lecture about trauma. A preacher tries to calm a woman and tells her, “Death is part of God’s natural order.” A woman talks about fearing relapsing after a traumatic event and that she contemplated suicide.
► Fireworks are seen exploding in the sky in a few scenes. A woman drops something into a bathtub and a red plume spreads in the water.

I Know What You Did Last Summer LANGUAGE 9

 – About 40 F-words and its derivatives, 11 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms, 6 mild obscenities, name-calling (nepo-baby, dirty dirty dog, petty, diva, creepy, emotionally stunted, insane, mermaid, devil town, garbage, crazy psycho, sweetheart, bastard, numb, terrible lie, hysterical, sketchy, Scooby-Doo [scatological term deleted]), 1 religious profanity (GD), 19 religious exclamations. (e.g. oh my God, my God, God, oh God, thank God, Jesus Christ, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |

I Know What You Did Last Summer SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman lights what looks like a marijuana cigarette and puts it out when she realizes that it is apparently stale, and a man holds a marijuana cigarette and invites others to smoke it with him (he later lights it). People drink liquor as well as beer and champagne at a party, people drink from a flask while riding in a car (the driver does not drink), many empty liquor and beer bottles are seen on a table in a boat and a man drinks from one beer bottle, people drink from a flask, a man guzzles from an open bottle of wine, an open bottle of wine and a partial glass are seen on a table, a woman drinks a glass of wine, a man drinks a glass of whiskey, and a woman says that a man is an alcoholic.

I Know What You Did Last Summer DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Friendship, weddings, keeping secrets, not taking responsibility, cover-ups, PTSD, life-changing events, trauma, true crime podcasts, wedding jitters, stress induced ailments, gaslighting, revenge.

I Know What You Did Last Summer MESSAGE

 – Trauma changes you. Not taking responsibility for your actions can lead to unexpected consequences.