REVIEW: ‘Ready or Not 2 Here I Come’ Is Plagued By Lazy Writing

Note to Hollywood execs: it’s okay not to make sequels. Especially sequels with a script as half-baked and malnourished as the fleeting, sometimes furious, Ready or Not 2 Here I Come. Directed by returning filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and based on the script from Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy, the direct follow-up offers a few laughs, some superb reactions from certified Scream Queen Samara Weaving, cringe-inducing, stomach-churning gore, and little else.  

Ready or Not 2 Here I Come picks up mere moments after the explosive carnage of the first film has commenced. The La Domas mansion is up in flames as Grace (Weaving) puffs on a long-awaited cigarette and, rightfully, physically checks the hell out. But she isn’t saved. Brought to a hospital, she’s named a suspect in the murder of members of the Le Domas family, which included her (now) late husband, and, to make matters worse, her estranged sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), is her emergency contact, complicating matters. 

There’s no rest or respite, just further madness and threats on her life. Due to the death of the La Domas, there’s a power struggle underway with the most elite families in the world, all of whom have sold their souls to the devil. They’re all fighting for the High Seat of the Council, which would offer them all-consuming power and control over the world. There’s a lot of bylaws involved with this bloodshed, and it’s in trying to build out the world into something with more depth and, god, rules, that signify the first mistake.  

Clunky dialogue doesn’t do the film any favors. 

The second is when Faith and Grace reunite in the hospital and deliver some terrible, clunky expositional dialogue. It’s not so much a volley as it is a clumsy “and another thing” style transactional word vomit. Weaving is ferocious in the film, channeling even more livewire energy that perfectly embodies her desperate need for a smoke. But Newton fails to channel that same frenzied race for survival. 

The sisters are forced back into the ritual as Grace must take part rather than watch her sister be killed. They’re going up against members of the four most elite, domineering families. But the most notable are twins, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shawn Hatosy. Having recently lost their father (played, in a hilarious bit of casting, by horror titan David Cronenberg), the two are scheming for the High Seat, no matter the cost or just how dirty they need to get their hands to attain it. 

Elijah Wood also joins the cast (similarly hilarious, as it reunites him with Hatosy from The Faculty). But despite the stunt casting and the clear Buffy the Vampire–style homage, only Hatosy can play within his role. Granted, his character has one of the more unpleasant scenes in recent memory, though it’s effective – the sight of him charging down an empty hallway in pursuit of Faith is deeply disturbing.

Sarah Michelle Gellar deserved more to do. 

Gellar, meanwhile, doesn’t get nearly enough to do. Despite her undeniable presence in pop culture, Gellar’s role, like so much of the film, is underdeveloped. There are hints that there’s more to her character, but the writing goes nowhere with it. Until it does in a moment of tonal whiplash. Wood, at this rate, could do these kinds of roles in his sleep. And while he’s not quite sleepwalking here, it’s a close thing, resting on the wide-eyed, weirdo default he’s often so pleasantly comfortable in. 

Any success of the film is due to Weaving’s guttural performance. The bloodier things get, and the more she becomes a human pin cushion, the better her performance becomes. But she’s also very funny in the opening, dissociative moments, where she replies to her sister with one-syllable responses, unable to muster up any energy following the disastrous night she dealt with. 

But as the night from hell becomes two, Weaving relishes in getting to go as loud, as feral as she pleases. There’s possibly no one right now who rivals her primal scream, and it’s a work of wonders in pivotal sequences that help cut away from more doldrum interactions. 

Samara Weaving is the easy MVP of Ready or Not 2 Here I Come. 

All of which boils down to the sisters: the sisters and their relationship, who are, in theory, the backbone of the sequel. But Ready or Not 2 Here I Come doesn’t try to investigate their dynamic beyond the most shallow readings. “You left me,” “I had to,” rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat.

It’s insufferable. There’s a good story here somewhere, but it requires too much heavy lifting to find. The film isn’t interested in their dynamic or their healing. It doesn’t even seem interested in their now shared trauma. Instead, it’s a cheap, ineffective way to explain why the sequel exists.

Between the imbalanced writing, Newton’s emotionally vacant performance, and some big swings in tone, there’s an evident laziness to the structure and storytelling. And that unaffectedness doesn’t work in death game horror, where the stakes need to be immeasurable. We need to be on the edge of our seats, wondering how on earth they make it out alive. 

With gratuitous, unnecessary violence, stagnant direction, and repetitive writing, Ready or Not 2 Here I Come is forgettable. Samara Weaving is a star, though, and almost makes even the most lukewarm moments work due to her magnetism. Without her, the film would be dead on arrival. 

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is out now in theaters.