Publication Date: 03-21-2026

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026) review

Dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★½

The original Ready or Not was an enjoyably violent reprieve during the summer of 2019, a time that not only feels distant but arguably one of the last periods of normality for global society for a myriad of reasons. Moreover, the film — directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, known collectively as Radio Silence — was vulgar, blood-drenched, and centered on a woman forced to engage in combat with her family in order to stay alive during one long night. It was clearly designed to be singular and contained.

But of course, here we have Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, spawned after Radio Silence departed Scream 7 after directing the previous two installments. The sequel’s budget has more than doubled, its scope has been greatly expanded to involve international players, and the entire thing feels more unwieldly and less nimble than its predecessor, despite harboring a few entertaining moments.

One of its best scenes is its opener, which replays the final scene of Ready or Not before expanding upon it through one uninterrupted extreme close up of Grace’s (Samara Weaving) bloodied face. She has just incinerated the remaining members of the La Domas family in their palatial estate, and police have arrived on scene while she sits outside the home smoking a cigarette. “What happened to you?,” a medic asks. “In-laws,” she replies before falling unconscious.

She wakes up in a Connecticut hospital, wanted for murder and arson, just in time for her younger sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), arrives. The two have been estranged for seven years, and this catch-up opportunity only lasts mere minutes before shots are fired inside the hospital and the two are kidnapped, bound, ball-gagged, and sitting before a group of elites known as the Council. The club is comprised of six families, one of whom was the Le Domases, and a rule established by the Council’s late founder, Mr. Le Bail, states that with one family gone, one member from each of the group’s remaining clans must try to kill the person responsible. Whoever does this will earn the high-seat and become one of the most powerful people on Earth.

Why does this matter concern other families? Why is Faith roped into this mess? Being that Ready or Not 2 takes place immediately after the previous film, Grace hasn’t had time to file for divorce, so she’s still technically a Le Domas, right? Wouldn’t she be the new family representative? So many questions, too many new characters to introduce to stop and answer them. One of the Council families is the Danforths, led by Chester (legendary director David Cronenberg, who appears for a cameo); his adult children, Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar, finally given something fun to do) and Titus (Shawn Hatosy), will represent the family at the hunting of Grace and Faith. Other families are plucked from all over the globe, the most amusing being a pothead, new money millennial named Viraj (Nadeem Umar-Khitab), who dons an ancient mask once the hunt begins on an enormous golf course.

During the pauses in brutality and bloodshed come moments where Grace and Faith argue about who abandoned who and why they went so many years without speaking to one another. Grace went off to college. Faith had to fend for herself. Both women lived in New York City, but were unaware of where one another ended up. Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy’s assure these women have at least three or four scenes to argue out their differences, and the only thing masking the overwrought nature of this sisterly beef is the fact that Weaving and Newton are a delightful pair. Weaving remains in “fight” mode, considering this story is occurring less than 24 hours after the events of the first film. Newton is fittingly naïve, coming across as the coddled younger sister. In some ways, it feels like the dynamic Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett crafted between Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega in the duo’s respective Scream sequels, only heightened because I found Weaving and Newton to have better chemistry.

The setup of Ready or Not 2 is akin to a Marvel movie. The expansion of the Council, the international control of policy afforded by its members, and the repeatedly referenced “bylaws” of their doctrine all feel underdeveloped. Consequently, the threads are plothole ridden. This concept should’ve been a slam-dunk, for the idea of wealthy elites not only controlling so many aspects of our lives but operating freely and uncompromised echoes the culture’s anger over the “Epstein class” that simply didn’t exist in its current form back in 2019. An “eat/kill the rich” movie in 2026 sells like limited edition Funkos, but the foundation on which this story is built is so flimsy that its plot developments don’t grab you like they should.

Beyond people literally exploding into a puddle of blood, there is one inspired sequence involving the eternal Bonnie Tyler banger “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” It’s a cross-cut sequence showing Grace and Faith in two separate spaces, fighting two separate baddies. Grace and her sparring partner are blinded by pepper-spray, making the repeated refrain of “Turn around…” humorous in a non-diegetic way. Even if its plotting is questionable, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come does retain the same kind of dark comedy that was present in the first, which felt germane to the gratuitous violence and didn’t undercut it. There’s fun to be had here, but just don’t be surprised when Here I Come devolves into “there it went” faster than you might expect.

My review of Ready or Not (2019)

Starring: Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, Elijah Wood, Néstor Carbonell, Nadeem Umar-Khitab, Varun Saranga, and David Cronenberg. Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.