The In-Laws From Hell are replaced by the, uh, Family Friends From Hell in this sequel to the 2019 action-horror hit.
Picking up where the previous film left off, Ready or Not 2 finds runaway bride Grace (Samara Weaving) shell-shocked in the wake of her post-wedding ordeal.
Now under police investigation, she’s shipped off to hospital, where she has some tough questions to answer. Not least from estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton), who’s still harbouring a grudge at her older sibling for abandoning her to pursue life and love elsewhere. The pair’s fiery reunion doesn’t last long though. By surviving her arcane game of hide and seek, Grace has triggered a lesser-seen clause which forces her back onto the playing field. Faith too.
Doubling its heroines and featuring a larger cast of villains, Ready or Not 2 follows the train of thought that sequels should go bigger and harder. As such, there’s more of everything; more bloodthirsty monsters, more gore, more violence, and more exploding bodies.
There are also extra rules. In trying to justify its return, Ready or Not 2 opens the lore up to introduce an Illuminati-esque world of Satanists and secret societies pulling the strings. It’s similar to what John Wick did with its sequels, trying to recapture lightning in a bottle by making things much more convoluted. It doesn’t really make sense if you think on it too hard, but Elijah Wood is on hand to explain everything in his role as the families’ exposition-spewing lawyer.
Wood is just one of many additions to a colourful cast. This includes Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shawn Hatosy as bickering twins Ursula and Titus Danforth – horror cinema’s answer to Dee and Dennis Reynolds. They lead the charge as Lost stars Nestor Carbonell and Kevin Durand join the hunt, although it’s Maia Jae who gives Grace her biggest challenge – and the film its best sequence.
If a disappointingly one-note Kathryn Newton fares less well, then Weaving picks up the slack. She’s an absolute powerhouse in this sequel, demonstrating what makes her one of contemporary genre cinema’s most exciting faces. And, with that distinctive scream, its voice too. It’s fitting that Weaving should have broken into horror with an episode of Ash vs Evil Dead, as the amount of abuse she’s subjected to here would make even Bruce Campbell’s eyes water.
An early MCU-style Suit Up sequence is a bit on-the-nose, but directorial team Radio Silence (Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin) are essentially correct that they have a modern horror icon on their hands, so one can forgive such moments of self-indulgence. Sure, Ready or Not 2 might not recapture what made the first film great, but it has fun trying in its brutal set pieces, bone-crunching action and savage one-liners.
What the directors ultimately fail to achieve is a reason for their return. It’s a cheery rehash of the first film, but what Ready or Not 2 struggles to find is its sense of purpose.
A version of this review was originally published in Absolutely Fucking Horrifying #2
READY OR NOT 2 is streaming on Disney Plus in the UK now.
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