Ready or Not 2 Here I Come review (2026)

Ready or Not 2 Here I Come initially sounded like another very unnecessary sequel.

The 2019 original worked because of its unique premise — one that didn’t seem likely to be as impactful with another spin. Happy to accept the challenge the Ready or Not 2 filmmakers make an encore that raises the stakes, surprises, slaughter and laughs in this very satisfying dark action comedy.

Ready or Not 2 takes place minutes after the first film with Grace emerging from the fiery mansion following her honeymoon night where her new in-laws tried (and failed) to kill her.

Grace’s resourcefulness majorly affected the plans of the Satanic cult her in-laws were a part of forcing the start of a higher stakes game — one in which the winner gets to claim the head of the table and lead the cult.

Unfortunately for Grace, that means she’s got to compete in yet another game. This time she’s not alone as her estranged sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania) gets dragged along due to a paperwork snafu. Grace forgot to remove Faith as her emergency contact.

Elijah Wood, playing the cult’s lawyer, explains the rules of the new game to the sisters. The eldest representative of The High Council families have until dawn to kill Grace and take the seat as the new head of the council. The cult members can only use certain weapons and cannot kill each other to increase their odds of winning.

The council reps, played by Nestor Carbonell, Olivia Cheng and Nadeem Umar-Khitab, are already annoyed that the Danforth twins Titus (Shawn Hatosy) and Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar) have an unfair advantage to retain the family’s control of the council.

Playing up the family ties within the council, if a representative gets killed, their next of kin can take their place to kill Grace and seize the high seat.

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Screenwriters Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy address one of the big shortcomings of the first film as Grace is less of a lucky survivor and has more control of her fate. Chalk some that up to experience in surviving the first game and fully understanding the life and death stakes at play.

The rest can be attributed to Grace wanting to protect her little sister. Thankfully the bulk of Ready or Not 2 has the sisters bickering over their issues while trying to avoid getting killed. Weaving has to work harder to hide her Australian accent, which is especially noticeable when she’s exchanging dialogue with Newton.

Weaving and Newton have believable chemistry as siblings and play off each other well in the hide-and-fight sequences. Gellar and Hatosy play the flip side of siblings who start Ready or Not 2 on a united front but gradually splinter as the film progresses.

Wood might be the most entertaining supporting performer as he gives the lawyer a cool, calm presence who isn’t rattled by any of the craziness playing out around him.

Overall, the characters are smarter and the antagonistic dynamic with the council members makes sense. There’s far less examples of characters, specifically Grace and Faith, doing dumb things at convenient times for the sake of to the story progressing along a certain path. The script is punchier as well with some very funny one-liners and character reactions.

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Scream VI) up the ante with the Ready or Not 2 action sequences letting them play out longer with more dramatic, suspenseful moments before the kill shot/stab/explosion. Yes, the exploding bodies gag returns yet for some reason it plays better in Ready or Not 2 since it’s not just reserved for the final act and is used more as a comedic bit than a serious payoff.

There is a welcome physicality to the action making it come off like a legitimate life or death struggle. As players get taken off the board, their replacements enter the competition more enraged with greater personal stakes. Grace and Faith aren’t treated like dominant Amazon warriors and receive brutal beat downs as often as they dish them out.

Ready or Not 2 still has a final act that plays out too long and dramatically cools down some of the momentum leading up to it but recovers stronger than its predecessor. While the first installment benefitted from its unique premise, the sequel benefits from the familiarity and shakes the dynamic up enough to fully stand on its own for a worthwhile follow-up.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

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