WARNING: Major spoilers for Freaky ahead
Christopher Landon's 2020 horror/comedy outing, Freaky, neatly wrapped up its ending, but left a key element of the movie's plot in play that could potentially set up a sequel.
Freaky—which has been confirmed to exist within Landon's Happy Death Day universe—sees a serial killer swapping places with his would-be victim in an interesting take on the Freaky Friday story. With classic slasher movie elements and sensibilities thrown in, Landon's update to the tale sees an urban legend come to life in the form of the Blissfield Butcher (Vaughn), who slaughters a group of teenagers before the town's Homecoming Dance, then targets school mascot and social outcast Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton), after she's forgotten following a school football game. During the attack, the Butcher stabs Millie in the shoulder with a strange dagger he acquired at his previous crime scene. After his first murder spree, the dagger whispered to him, compelling him to not only take the item, but use it in future murders. Since he wasn't successful in killing Millie, the dagger injured them both, prompting them to switch bodies.
While the Butcher doesn't survive the events of Freaky, and ends up being summarily and shockingly executed by Millie after they switch back to their original bodies, the dagger is still in play. In fact, the opening scene of Freaky suggests that perhaps the original owner knew of its abilities, specifically the inherent danger of it, and kept it locked up securely for those reasons. If the dagger is out in the world—even under the watchful eye of Millie or the authorities—there's no guarantee that it couldn't reappear in another movie. There's been no news regarding whether Landon intends to revisit the Freaky universe, but since it's connected to his previous movies, it's possible that the sequel could even set up the interconnected universe that Jason Blum has teased before.
In true final girl form, Millie (and her friends) survives the Butcher's onslaught. However, the dagger was one of the primary threats to begin with. Not only does it allow two people to switch bodies, but the change is also permanent if actions aren't taken to reverse it within 24 hours. Millie successfully stabs the Butcher—in her body—and switches back just in time for police officers to gun him down. However, just like many popular slashers, the Butcher doesn't die so easily. He returns to Millie's home, and after his gruesome demise, seems to be dead for good. Because of that, there's no reason to bring him back for Freaky 2. Instead, the dagger is key to setting up a sequel — it's subtle, but makes sense as a way to proceed, especially given what's known about the Happy Death Day movies.
In Happy Death Day, Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) is the series' protagonist, just like Millie is in Freaky. Because of that, it's more important that Tree and Millie carry their respective franchises more than it is for a singular killer to prevail. Since the dagger is still up for grabs, even if it was under Millie's watchful eye, she's the only one who is truly aware of what it can do — her friends are aware in a peripheral sense, but having first-hand experience is different. Just like Tree is the only one who really understands the time loop, Millie is set up to be the dagger's guardian, in a way. Her knowledge of not only what it does, but also its curse and how to reverse it, gives her authority. If the dagger were to fall into the hands of someone else who had ill intentions in a Freaky sequel, Millie and her friends would, presumably, be the ones to stop it.
For example, if a different killer managed to hear about what happened in Blissfield, he (or she) could acquire the dagger and target another seemingly innocent person such as a teenager or even an elderly person—someone nobody would expect—and resume their killing spree. Millie could hear about the crimes and, after the events trigger a sense of familiarity, could be invaluable in reversing the swap before it's too late. Freaky has not been green-lit for a sequel, but the subtle hint is enough to create potential.
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