Movie Review: Ready or Not 2: Here I Come

By John Corrado

The Radio Silence team of co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett return to the world of their 2019 horror-comedy Ready or Not with Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, a fun sequel that serves as a direct continuation of the first one.

As in, this film literally opens right where the first one ended, with new bride Grace (Samara Weaving) walking out of the burning house where she survived the sacrificial game of hide-and-seek that her satan-worshiping in-laws forced her to play on her wedding night.

This leads into a single take sequence that seamlessly extends the final moments of the first movie, with Grace being transported to hospital. The directors very cleverly make it seem like no time has passed, despite it being seven years since the release of the original Ready or Not. And, coupled with that very fitting subtitle of Here I Come, this second part is a classic case of a sequel that follows the same formula as the first movie only bigger.

This sequel ups the gore and expands the secret society lore to deliver another entertaining and suspenseful game of cat and mouse. Because Grace survived until dawn, and no sacrifice was made to the devil, a new game has been set in motion. Grace must survive the night yet again, only now with members of multiple powerful families hunting her.

If the first film borrowed from Kill Bill, this one goes full John Wick with the backstory, involving members of the High Council – the shadowy, all-powerful human-sacrificing group that controls the world – coming from around the globe to hunt Grace. Whoever finishes the job and kills her will win the seat at the head of the council. The rules of the game remain the same, with only weapons from the 1800s, when the council was formed, being allowed.

Among the hunters are Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Titus (Shawn Hatosy), the adult children of former head Chester Danforth (David Cronenberg), both vying for their father’s place. The stakes are even higher for Grace, with her also having to protect her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton), who shows up at the hospital after being listed as her emergency contact. The sisters are brought to the Danforth’s private golf course estate, where they are to be hunted by the elites.

Building off the manor in the first one, this resort – with its various rooms, corridors and sprawling grounds – provides an even larger playground for the action, which once again unfolds around a murderous game of hide-and-seek. The whole ensemble cast has a lot of fun, especially under the playful command of Elijah Wood, eating up the role of The Lawyer, who’s overseeing the completion of the games.

Weaving is once again a solid scream queen, back in her battle outfit of bloody, tattered wedding gown and sneakers. Newton is a welcome addition to the cast, with the two having an enjoyable sibling dynamic together. Gellar brings a throwback horror vibe to her role, and it’s also a treat for genre fans to see Canadian horror icon Cronenberg in a brief part (which makes sense since, like the first one, this sequel was shot in and around Toronto).

Once Ready or Not 2: Here I Come fully gets going, it’s a blast. The film has a lot of fun with the unpredictability of who will die – or, explode in a gross bloody pop – next. In its best moments, like a near-slapstick fight set to a pretty great Bonnie Tyler “Total Eclipse of the Heart” needle drop, the film finds co-directors Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett simply reminding us how good they can be at staging these scary-fun set-pieces.

They are operating in a more jokey space here, but it’s fitting for a follow up to a fun little film that subverted the children’s game of hide-and-seek into a bloody survival thriller. And this is a sequel that is easily on par with its predecessor. As a direct continuation, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come works, especially when everything starts clicking together in the tense and very enjoyable grand finale.