Ready or Not: Here I Come (2026 | USA | 108 minutes | Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett)
It’s been seven years since the Le Domas mansion went up in flames, but Ready or Not 2: Here I Come picks up right where the first film leaves off—and I mean exactly where it leaves off. We even get an extended version of the final scene from the first film. Immediately after the Le Domas fire, Grace is taken to a hospital where her emergency contact is called, her sister, “biologically speaking,” Faith (Kathryn Newton) is called, and the two have an unwanted family reunion.
If you’re like me (and by that I mean obsessed with crime documentaries), you were probably a little worried about the legal repercussions for Grace (Samara Weaving). The second film tries to address these issues, but before any real legal action can be taken, Grace is thrown headfirst into another fight for her life. After the death of the entire Le Domas family, the High Council must convene for the first time since 1963 to decide who will hold the High Seat. Grace and Faith are drugged and left on a golf course, and in a near fight to the death (à la The Hunger Games), each head of the remaining families who serve La Bail attempts to be the first to kill Grace and claim the High Seat. The games are led by La Bail’s lawyer (Elijah Wood), who keeps everyone in line as they fight for, ironically, a ring of power.
The highlight of this film was the decision to put Grace and Faith in this fight together, which allows for much more character exploration than in the first film. Since Grace isn’t alone in her fight to survive, the audience is able to learn about her past and connect with her feelings. One of the biggest flaws of the first film, in my opinion, was the lack of explanation for many character motivations (aside from simple self-preservation), and Ready or Not 2 seems to swing the other way completely. Grace now has something more to fight for besides herself, adding a deeper emotional layer to the story. Plus, I’m a sucker for a good sister love story.
The cast of new characters introduces more billionaire idiots we love to hate, led by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shawn Hatosy playing Ursula and Titus Danforth, siblings determined to keep their family in the council’s High Chair, no matter how many rules they have to bend. And my personal favorites, Varun Saranga and Nadeem Umar-Khitab, as the Rajan brothers, club owners who seem to be perpetually living out their teenage fantasies and are woefully unprepared for a real battle. Bringing together multiple high-profile families adds a sense of competition and variety that was missing in the first film.
While the film isn’t immune to the cheesiness and predictability that many horror films fall into, it’s filled with some great campy horror moments that will stay with viewers long after the credits roll. It balances the emotional reconciliation of Faith and Grace, the intense torture they endure, and never takes itself too seriously. No matter how gory or hopeless the story gets, you won’t be able to stop smiling.
One of the best parts of this film is that it works as a standalone story. While the audience gets a bit of background through Grace’s flashbacks at the beginning, those flashbacks aren’t even necessary to understand the plot (not least because every character besides Grace died in the first movie). It’s a story that will appeal to fans of the original as well as newcomers with little or no knowledge of the franchise.
Ready or Not: Here I Come arrives
In theaters this weekend
Image courtesy Searchlight Pictures .