Welcome to another edition of “Films you never thought you’d see a sequel to…until pre-production started from nowhere”. A cornucopia of earlier examples of this can be picked, from Sisu: Road to Revenge to Ouija: Origin of Evil and an infinite number of other projects. All of which seemed to have wrapped up their narratives in a neat little bow in the original film, only for film studios to prove us wrong, whether it was due to perceived profits or sheer opportunity. And so, it was the case with Ready or Not in 2019. This extremely fun horror/comedy/thriller saw the awesomely perennial scream queen Samara Weaving marry into a high-society family, being completely unaware that their wealth and good luck were (apparently) due to a satanic pact, where fate decided if a childish game would result in a human sacrifice. But Grace (Weaving) was not a simpering bride who gave up easily and managed to turn the tables on her Beelzebub-loving in-laws. The last shot sees her sitting exhausted-but-alive on the mansion steps, as she is (apparently) flanked by emergency services. So, 7 years ago, that’s where it was left. Fast forward several years, and the film’s directors (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) were developing a concept for a genre “sister story” for Kathryn Newton and Weaving to star in, having rightly realised that this would be awesome. It was only in recent years (late 2024), when Searchlight Pictures greenlit a sequel, that they thought to fold this idea into the Ready or Not universe. Since then, the sequel attracted a “damned” good cast, including the likes of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elijah Wood, Kevin Durand, David Cronenberg (!), and Shawn Hatosy. Shot in Toronto in 2025, it was originally due to have an April release in the UK but was then bumped up to March to match the US release. So, are we ready?

 

Like all good horror sequels, the last shot of the original film is the first shot of the continuation. Grace MacCaullay (Weaving) passes out from the effects of her wounds after the explosive decimation of the Le Domas family (and mansion). She wakes in a hospital and (in a rare moment of horror film realism) is being held accountable for all the carnage. Not only that, but her disapproving and estranged younger sister (Kathryn Newton as Faith MacCaullay) turns up at her bedside, having been alerted to her condition as her next-of-kin. There’s some bad blood there, as Faith has abandonment issues and Grace is stuck in an adamant did-my-best state. Family squabbles soon become the least of their problems, though. As revealed in a parallel narrative, Grace's survival has opened the next stage in the “hide and seek” game. See, other families also have a diabolical pact with the satanic Mr Le Bail (anagram of “Belial”, if you still don’t get it). As such, the actions of Grace (and David Cronenberg as Chester Danforth) mean that the “leadership” spot is now vacant and ready for a newly crowned figure. They just have to kill Grace first to inherit that position. So, after a botched assassination attempt in the ward, both Grace and Faith are transported to a remote luxury resort. There are several caveats, but they’re basically being hunted in a levelled-up version of the titular game. If they survive until dawn, they win. If they die, one of the assorted douchebags gets their evil mitts on absolute power.

 

Ready or Not was uncomplicated, bloody fun with a capital B. Ready or Not: Here I Come (there’s no “2” in the title screen BTW) goes the obvious sequel route in that it’s bigger and badder, with more characters and an expanded lore. That’s not to say it’s necessarily better, though (we’ll get to that). But it’s certainly not going to disappoint fans who enjoyed the original “game” and the offbeat humour. It’s also surprisingly refreshing to have a movie continuation that literally begins where the last one finished without missing a beat, and that’s despite the real-world time-lag of 7 years. It helps that the two leading ladies, both now accomplished and unabashed scream queens, bounce off each other so well. Weaving slips into the potty-mouthed headspace of Grace like it was yesterday, once again embracing the foibles and semi-iconic appearance of her blood-spattered bride. She literally puts the same dress on and gets to use a shotgun properly this time. Newton (so overlooked and brilliant as the body-swapped serial killer in Freaky, as well as the hapless kidnapper in Abigail) is just perfect casting as her sister, and you get why the directors were looking for a vehicle to showcase their double act. You get the impression that some of the later scenes were heavily inspired by improvisation and verbal sparring by the duo. Great stuff.

 

Some of the other genre-heavy “stunt-casting” is also inspired and works better than you might think. Cronenberg is cameo bait, but he gives his character some gravitas. Gellar seemingly has great fun as the entitled twin (Ursula Danforth) who has the brains, whilst her unhinged brother (Shawn Hatosy as Titus Danforth) brings the “pains”. As you might expect, there are some nods to her “Buffy” persona (note the metal spikes instead of “Mr Pointy”), but she brings some vibrancy and poise to her villainous counterpart, making you wonder why she hasn’t been offered more genre roles like this in the past. Shout-out to Wood as well, who makes a great impression as the “Lawyer” by force of sheer drollness and serenity amidst all the chaos and viscera. They all stand out in a jam-packed crew where a lot of the characters are blood-explosion-fodder, line-feeders, or just plain annoying (we’re looking at you, “Madhu Rajan” and “Wan Cheng Fu”!). Luckily, the leads are so good, and the pace is so frenetic that most of the dud characters are easily tolerated. Weaver continues to prove that she has the best lungs in the genre (Not a euphemism! Get your mind out of the gutter!) as she produces deafening primal screams that even put Mia Goth to shame! Newton also shows some nice bad-assery to the required quotient, and it all breezes along very nicely.

 

The lore around “Mr Le Bail” and the Faustian pact is fleshed out and expanded to a fair degree. This is both a good thing and a bad thing to some extent. Some of the mystery and simplicity of the original narrative has been lost. Remember that we were never sure if the Le Domas mob were misguided loonies or genuine satanists until the denouement of the original plot. From the start here, we know that supernature is in play and that people will explode like punctured skin-balloons when they break the rules or lose the game. Initial outsider Faith learns the truth of this within the first 15 minutes or so. So, for the new “game”, interesting little wrinkles or caveats are supplied by the fastidious “Lawyer”. Combatants can only use weapons from the era when they signed the pact, leading to some using blunderbusses whilst others utilise drones. Family members can deputise each other during certain situations, and there are legal loopholes that become majorly important. Perhaps, and conveniently so, a bit too important. Whilst this is all jolly and creates background detail, it does mean that the plot gets a bit bogged down at times, and the simplicity of the “Hunt” is lost to trickery, backstabbing, and sheer dumbness. It does make for the occasional great punchline, though. What would happen if a hunter accidentally put a fellow hunter out of commission via an unlucky accident?

 

It’s this slight over-indulgence and keenness to pile on extraneous detail that derails the film a little bit. The sheer elegance, simple concept, and deadpan humour of the first film have given way to bombastic violence and gallons of blood. Remember that superbly timed scene in Part 1 where Grace blunders into the corridor and the family, resulting in a lengthy stunned silence, followed by “Found Her!” Or the “Spinal Tap” deaths of the 3 maids? Well, there’s none of that here. But there are tons of jump scares, no little pathos between family members, and more body explosions than you can count. It’s still a good comedy-thriller, with some great performances and a lightness of touch when it comes to gore, but it’s lost a little of the fondness for horror and playfulness that the first one exhibited. There are some genuine and realistic emotional beats between the leads and the twins, which is good, but the tonal switches jolt you away from the subject of crazy satanic shenanigans (and there are a lot of those at the end). And that’s not to mention one particularly grim and extended scene where a main character is literally beaten to the point of death, leading one viewer at our screening to complain that it had gotten “pretty dark, man”!

 

So, it’s a good film with some superb moments and fun performances. But as is often the case, and despite the addition of actors like Gellar, Newton, and Wood (sounds like a skiffle band), it doesn’t quite capture the fun and freshness of the first film. However, it is still well worth catching on the big screen, and you’ll have a blast if you see it in a packed cinema with a like-minded audience. Even if it’s just to prove to yourself that it’s not only The Strangers: Prey at Night that can brilliantly choreograph sickening violence to Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart”! It’s a shame that this enjoyably daft romp has suffered in the States by opening against Project Hail Mary and potentially affected by the close release of the similarly themed They Will Kill You. It’s not a classic, but it deserves a bigger bite of the box office than the one that it’s getting. Ah, well. We’ll always have Weaving with the bullet bandolier and Newton with the samurai sword as genre icons, not to mention world-class swearing and geysers of blood.