by Jeffery Rahming, Contributing Writer
Ready or Not was a surprise sleeper hit in 2019 that went on to develop a cult following. It was a fun enough horror flick, but can its successor break the curse of notoriously bad horror movie sequels? Ready or Not: Here I Come attempts a John Wick-style sequel by taking the initial premise and expanding the lore. But seven years later, you have to ask: Is this really a story that anybody wants to see expanded?
We pick up right where the first one left off, with Grace MacCaullay (Samara Weaving) immediately being wheeled to the hospital after her deadly run-in with the in-laws. We quickly learn that the family from the first movie was just one part of a vast network of evil families that run the world, who were conveniently never mentioned in the first film. Now that Grace has survived, the other families put her in another hide-and-seek game for her life, and whoever kills her gets to run the world. If this sounds like it’s just the same plot all over again, you would be correct. But this time, Grace’s estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) is roped into the proceedings. While Grace is the primary sacrificial victim, Faith becomes a bargaining chip that the families can use against her. Having not spoken in years, the family drama between them complicates their survival, but if they want to live, they have to find a way to work together
This is a sequel that, on paper, has everything it needs to be great. There’s a great cast, a couple of fun needle drops, and some of the gory action is fun. But it just can’t escape the feeling that it only exists because the first one made money, not because anybody involved with this project really wanted to make more. This falls into the common horror-movie sequel trap of basically just being the first film all over again, but with less interesting characters. What’s worse is how close it is to being about something. Evil rich people using the lower classes for sick personal games is pretty topical, but that idea is never explored. The first one felt more biting with its social commentary on marriage, and even in that case, it was pretty shallow. It’s not that Ready or Not: Here I Come has to be a deeper story, but with how close some of the themes are to our current headlines, it feels a little hollow to have a film about evil rich satanists killing people and sell it as just cheap entertainment. Especially with all the great horror movies that do social commentary well (such as Get Out, which the first entry took a lot of cues from), this just feels like it’s missing out on being something special because it doesn’t explore its themes enough.
A horror-comedy-action hybrid like this is only as good as its villains, and compared to the Le Domas family, the new families aren’t as entertaining. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shawn Hatosy are great as the two devious twins who are at the head of the proceedings and are the only villains of the bunch to get actual character development. The rest are just there to be comedic relief and die in brutal ways. There are more than a few moments where they act completely incompetent, just so that our main characters can survive. There’s never a second where you believe our lead characters might not make it, which makes the film pretty unengaging overall.
Weaving is the acting powerhouse pulling this whole project together; she is absolutely amazing and gives a full movie-star performance that has you just itching to see more. Her performance is the only thing that almost justifies this movie’s existence. Unfortunately, she’s so good she blows her co-lead out of the water. Newton is a capable actress, but adding a random sister character out of nowhere is just one of the many corny sequel tropes that pull this movie down. If you cut Faith out of the movie completely, the plot would barely change. In fact, it probably would’ve been better. We take our time to build up to the mystery behind their familial tension, and once you find out what all their drama is about, it seems pretty silly for it to take any priority over multiple psychopaths trying to kill them. Their constant bickering just feels childish and annoying. I don’t think anyone really wanted to see the hide-and-seek game from the first film all over again, but with more interpersonal catfights this time.
Ready or Not: Here I Come is completely unnecessary. It’s not horrible, and there are a few standout scenes, but overall, it feels like one of those cheap horror sequels that went straight to streaming, except this one is in theaters. It just feels so obvious that there were no fresh ideas for this follow-up. This is just a lackluster rehash of the original. If you’re in the mood to see some rich evil people get what they deserve, you’d be better off just rewatching the first one.
Rating: Just Ok
Ready or Not: Here I Come is currently playing in theaters
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