Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
Written by: Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy

Ready or Not is one of my favorite movies I’ve gotten to cover for this blog, so when I heard it was getting a sequel, I was cautiously optimistic, especially after finding out that the new cast included Sarah Michelle Gellar (my middle school icon) and Elijah Wood (my middle school crush). However, because the first movie works so well as a stand-alone film, I was a little worried that the sequel would either be a retread of the first movie or a jumble of unnecessary lore trying to fill in any gaps. Fortunately, for the most part, neither of those concerns was an issue.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come picks up right where the first movie leaves off, with a bloody, battered, and burned Grace (Samara Weaving) sitting on the steps of her ex-in-laws’ estate after surviving their attempted ritual sacrifice on her wedding night. She is met at the hospital by her emergency contact, her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton). Before she can convince Faith or the police of what she experienced, she is pulled back into the world of ritual sacrifice in the form of a childhood game, this time by members of four very powerful families, all vying for the ultimate prize.

While this could have felt like a rehash of the first movie, Ready or Not 2 manages to keep things interesting with more areas to explore (and hide in), more characters to contend with, and more detail about the followers of Mr. Le Bail and the Satanic council he has maintained (via supernatural forces and his dedicated lawyer, played by Elijah Wood). On the one hand, the additional characters and rules surrounding the council make the plot feel a little cumbersome and convoluted at times, but it also makes the stakes feel higher and keeps the audience guessing until the very end.

While I feel like the large cast makes the story feel a little clunky, I wouldn’t dare cut a single character, because everyone in this movie is so, so good. Samara Weaving is just as excellent as she was in the first movie, and Kathryn Newton is a wonderful addition as her sister. She and Weaving have great chemistry, and Kathryn’s comedic timing is impeccable—no surprise after seeing her in movies like Freaky, Abigail, and Lisa Frankenstein. The new cast members shine as well. I was disappointed that Kevin Durand’s role as council member Bill Wilkinson was so brief, because I loved him in Abigail, but he’s still so funny and intense in the few minutes of screen time he has.

Even characters who I considered mostly unnecessary, like Maia Jae’s Francesca El Caído, council member, and Alex Le Domas’s fiancée before Grace, had moments that I deeply enjoyed; there’s an extended fight scene between Francesca and Grace in an abandoned wedding reception hall that might be my favorite part of the movie. The standouts, though, are Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shawn Hatosy as twins Ursula and Titus Dansworth, members of the strongest council family. Sarah Michelle Gellar gives such a striking performance, balancing strength and coldness with genuine affection and concern for her cruel, unstable brother, and Shawn Hatosy is genuinely scary and loathsome in his role, going from annoying and unlikable at the beginning to unnerving and terrifying by the end.

Lastly, Ready or Not 2 is just as gorgeous as its predecessor. The cinematography is stunning, the costumes and sets are opulent, and even the many, many, many blood splatters are beautiful in a weird, creative way. Filmmaking duo Radio Silence (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) really knows how to make even the goriest movies sparkle.

While I still prefer the first movie, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is still an incredibly enjoyable sequel. If you’re a fan of the first movie, I’m confident that you’ll love this one as well.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is now playing in theaters

What are your thoughts on Ready or Not sequel?

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