Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
March 18th, 2026
MOVIE: READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME
STARRING: SAMARA WEAVING, KATHRYN NEWTON, ELIJAH WOOD, SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR, SHAWN HATOSY
DIRECTED BY: MATT BETTINELLI-OLPIN, TYLER GILLETT
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS (Out of 4)
RATED: R
RUN TIME: 108 MINUTES
It’s surprising to think that Ready or Not arrived back in 2019. Its premise- a bride discovering on her wedding night that she must survive a deadly game orchestrated by her new in-laws to truly become “part” of the family- was sharp, simple, and wickedly fun. With the success of that first installment, a sequel was inevitable. Unfortunately, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come ends up feeling like more of the same, failing to expand on what was once such a delightful concept. The result is a film that feels hastily assembled, populated with a few new faces, but largely exists because its predecessor was a hit. Worst of all, it can’t even come up with a fresh new game to play.
The story picks up immediately where the original left off. Grace (Samara Weaving) sits in her blood-soaked wedding dress, smoking a cigarette as the mansion behind her burns to the ground. She collapses from exhaustion and awakens in a hospital, now the prime suspect in a massacre with plenty of bodies and very few answers. Her emergency contact is her estranged sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), and their uneasy reunion quickly places them both in danger. According to the rules of the secret, devil-worshipping society, the hunt is far from over.
The rules remain mostly unchanged, but with one key twist: Grace’s survival means she is now destined to claim the head of the table. The current leader, Chester Danforth (David Cronenberg, in an admittedly odd bit of casting), is nearing the end, leaving his children- Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Titus (Shawn Hatosy)- as potential heirs, provided they survive the next hunt before sunrise. The Lawyer (Elijah Wood, clearly having fun) gathers the extended family and prospective hunters at the Danforth estate, chains Grace and Faith together, and kicks off another deadly game of hide-and-seek.
As a horror-comedy, Ready or Not 2 isn’t without its pleasures. There are genuine laughs to be found in watching wealthy, vapid elites meet their grisly ends. However, the novelty wears thin quickly. While some of the kills are inventive, this kind of creativity has been done before- and often better- in franchises like Final Destination or other horror films that fully commit to their set pieces. Kathryn Newton, in particular, seems underutilized, playing a character who feels tacked on and largely unnecessary to the story.
That said, the film isn’t without standout moments. A particularly gnarly sequence involving an industrial-strength washing machine delivers on shock value, and a showdown between the furious bride and a jilted ex provides a burst of energy. Samara Weaving once again proves why she’s become a modern scream queen, bringing intensity and charisma to a role she’s already mastered- even if she’s been given stronger material elsewhere.
Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have shown sharper instincts in their work on the recent Scream films, and this sequel highlights an important truth: not every successful horror film needs a follow-up. Ready or Not worked best as a singular, memorable experience. Now, it risks becoming just another drawn-out franchise, one that could easily stretch itself thin over multiple installments.
In the end, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is watchable and occasionally entertaining, but it’s also unnecessary- a game that, frankly, didn’t need to be played again.
2 STARS
READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME IS PLAYING IN THEATERS NOW.
Written by: Leo Brady
