Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, 2026.
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.
Starring Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, Dan Beirne, Nestor Carbonell, Elijah Wood, Kevin Durand, Olivia Cheng, Varun Saranga, Maia Jae, Juan Pablo Romero, Kara Wooten, Nadeem Umar-Khitab, Antony Hall, Masa Lizdek, and Grant Nickalls.
SYNOPSIS:
After surviving one deadly game, Grace and her sister Faith must now outrun four rival families competing for a powerful throne – winner takes all.
Whether one goes into an open mind or not regarding the need or value in a sequel to the satanic cult-led hide-and-seek bloodbath thriller Ready or Not, nonetheless, logically titled Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, returning directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (collectively referred to as Radio Silence) don’t inspire much confidence by picking up during the meme-ified ending scene of its predecessor that saw Samara Weaving’s final girl newlywed (the marriage clearly didn’t work out) Grace smoking a cigarette while slathered in blood, relieving a bit of stress after surviving a truly demented game until morning. There is a whiff of nostalgic desperation (for a movie that’s not even ten years old) in utilizing such evocative, memorable, and viral imagery, as if to say, “trust us, we have a worthy idea for a sequel that will live up to the previous insanity and the rewarding payoff”, which admittedly was a blast (figuratively and literally considering bodies kept spontaneously combusting into gobs of blood). Unfortunately, the filmmakers don’t.
Hollywood is severely addicted to sequels, series new and old. It’s an industry-wide problem where, at this point, there is reason to be skeptical about whether the popularity and demand are there for every such project put into development. I admit that no matter how much I enjoyed the original film for the delirious and ultraviolent entertainment that genuinely managed to generate unpredictability about why this was happening and whether or not these wealthy psychopaths were vampires (they had until morning to kill Grace as some unlucky, twisted initiation ceremony into a family she presumed was normal), coming into it there was a palpable sensation that there would be diminishing returns here.
What was unexpected is that the filmmakers would see this as an opportunity to John Wick-ify the premise with new families and empty high seat positions among a satanic council that rules the world which is both frighteningly realistic to America (something so ridiculous should, in theory, be implausible, but these are the times we live in) and yet far too underexplored here, merely functioning as a means to abduct and put Grace through the same hell (who even finds herself in the same dress or a strikingly similar one to continue the nostalgia baiting) moments after being interrogated by law enforcement following the events of that first film.
One early scene sees a dying patriarch played by David Cronenberg calling for a cease-fire between undefined nations, but it is somehow not long before (yet still dragged out) watching a new batch of characters from multiple families of varying ethnicities this time gathering together at an empty resort (apparently, they have the power to kick everyone out in an instant) to deal with empty seats and Grace. It’s almost a full 40 minutes before a new game begins (hide-and-seek again), with expanded lore and rules going in one ear and out the other, particularly because the world-building here feels so insulated; it’s about these satanic families controlling the world without any sense or semblance of what that entails.
At one point, a family member played by Sarah Michelle Gellar comes to the realization that she can’t control her sadistic power-starved brother (Shawn Hatosy), sincerely trying to convince Grace that they might be able to do good from the shadows with one of those seats, which comes across as either extraordinary gullibility or stupidity, or perhaps a combination of both. Elon Musk pretending he didn’t know what Epstein Island was actually makes more sense than whatever Sarah Michelle Gellar is getting at in this speech, which somewhat feels as if it’s trying to steer some of the women characters into the direction of unwilling participants despite marrying into and being comfortably complicit in an organization of satanic elites controlling the world and regularly murdering people for sport.
Anyway, the expansion also includes Grace’s personal sphere, as her emergency contact and sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), shows up to retcon that she has no immediate family, explaining seven years of estrangement and abandonment. This means she is dragged into the inevitable hunt, with her and Grace frequently bickering over personal issues, ultimately creating an emotionally vapid family dynamic that gives the actors more room to scream and shout than to develop character. Samara Weaving’s scream-queen ferociousness is cranked so high in every scene that it feels forced and nothing like the organic performances she is capable of.
Narratively, there isn’t much justification for Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, which trades something slicker and smarter for an abundance of rules that become so intricate that, somehow, Elijah Wood is here as both a lawyer keeping everyone in check, as tongue-in-cheek casting, given that the climax revolves around an all-important ring. However, there are undeniably some savage fight scenes that Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton throw their physicality into. The filmmakers also attempt to take what little personality and character they have and use them as an extension of their approach to surviving this chaos, with the latter proving to be more of a gutsy risk-taker. There is also no shortage of blood-explosions and gore. Aside from one coward used for comedic relief (Varun Saranga, with some truly terrific timing, lightening up even some of the most violent sequences), the new families and characters are so plentiful that none of them really stand out, all defined by the same generic motive.
By the time Ready or Not 2: Here I Come reaches its conclusion, which contains the blood-explosion to end them all, sure, this entry is surface-level enjoyable for its commitment to practical effects, mayhem, and going back to the proverbial well of something that was once uproariously awesome. A fight in an empty wedding hall set to a classic song is also a highlight, especially with how its brawling actors go for it. Simultaneously, the efforts to expand the universe fall flat; whatever enthusiasm there was for more here should now be radio silent.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
