Released in 2019—a few years before directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett were tapped to revitalize the Scream franchise—Ready or Not is a deliciously vicious treat. It follows newlywed Grace (Samara Weaving) as she’s forced to play a deadly version of hide-and-seek, lest her in-laws run afoul of the dark forces they serve in exchange for their immense wealth.
Ready or Not takes jabs at how the uber-rich are ruthlessly invested in preserving their way of life, with the clever detail that this particular family, the Le Domases, built its fortune on games. When Grace, still in her wedding dress, draws a card to determine what they’ll play, she inadvertently pulls the one that means she’ll be hunted to the death. The delight of the movie, of course, is that the scrappy Grace proves extremely resilient, emerging the “winner” by still being alive at dawn. Then, we get to see all the surviving Le Domas family members graphically explode one by one as their deal with the devil comes due.
Running through Ready or Not is necessary here because not only does Ready or Not 2: Here I Come pick up precisely where the first film leaves off—Grace, in her torn and blood-soaked gown, finally getting a smoke break after emerging from the burning Le Domas mansion—but it also follows almost the exact same plot.
There are certain expansions of the Ready or Not world, of course. Grace’s newly minted in-laws are all deceased, but we soon learn they weren’t operating in a satanic vacuum. There’s a global council of families that’s running… everything, and the elimination of the Le Domases means the balance of power could shift. And Grace has everything to do with that: to her horror, she learns she’s now the quarry in a new game of hide-and-seek, with the added pain of having her long-estranged younger sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), along for the ride.
© Searchlight PicturesReady or Not 2 assembles its new villains with glee, including Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shawn Hatosy as Ursula and Titus Danforth, twins determined to keep their family in the council’s top seat after their father’s sudden demise (he’s played by horror director David Cronenberg in a quick but memorable cameo). Elijah Wood is also a welcome addition as “the Lawyer,” an underworld emissary who reminds everyone of the very specific rules as he keeps a bemused eye on the proceedings.
With all the pieces on the board—Grace and Faith are drugged and dumped on a golf course at a luxury resort, where the assembled families snipe at each other while gathering their designated weaponry—Ready or Not 2 shifts into fight-or-flight mode. Unfortunately, having a second target doesn’t add much entertainment value; though there are a few sisterly tag-team battles, there are far more arguments about the fractured state of their relationship.
The sibling rivalry between Ursula and Titus has an even deeper mean streak that’s soon laid bare, but for the most part, Ready or Not 2 is given over to Grace and Faith scrambling around the hotel and its grounds, bickering over who’s in charge, sometimes while handcuffed together, all while evading rich buffoons intent on murdering them in various horrible ways.
The violence is cartoonishly amusing for the most part. But it lacks the emotional resonance of the first film, which leaned into Grace’s shock at being betrayed by her brand-new husband—and her incredible determination not to become his family’s latest sacrifice. Ready or Not 2’s larger plot about an evil cult controlling the world may be new for the sequel, but it’s been used countless times before in other horror tales and feels as familiar as you’d expect in this context.
And speaking of familiar, Ready or Not 2 dares to ask the question, “Can a horror fan actually become weary of watching bodies explode?” It’s never not worth a chuckle, but it loses its impact the more it happens—something Ready or Not 2 seems unwilling to recognize.
© Searchlight PicturesWeaving, at least, remains a formidable scream queen. You can understand why screenwriters Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy wanted to give Grace a little more backstory this time around and brought in Faith as a way of doing that, but we’ve already seen how capable she is of standing on her own. She pulled herself out of a body pit with a bullet-mangled hand! She doesn’t need backup, as much as she’s secretly glad to be reunited with her sister.
That’s kind of how it feels watching the sequel. You understand why all involved wanted to have more fun in this gruesome yet playful world. And that title is, admittedly, very cute. But you also can’t shake the feeling that it all feels a little repetitive and unnecessary—and that maybe the first film should’ve been allowed to remain what it was: a very well-executed standalone.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come hits theaters March 20.
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