‘I’m really not used to people combusting all over me...’
The directing team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (part of the Radio Silence collective) have done as much to shape modern horror as anyone having helped to create the V/H/S franchise, been at the helm for two Scream reboots and also introduced the world to Ready or Not back in 2019. Despite that film’s success (it made back its budget nine times at the box office), waiting seven years to produce a direct sequel was perhaps a risky move. Happily, this belated sequel is almost as fun as the source material…
Picking up seconds after the first film left off, we find lone survivor Grace MacCaullay (Samara Weaving) recovering in hospital following her ordeal at the Le Domas house. After being reunited with her estranged sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton) in the opening scenes, the two find themselves in yet another fight for survival, this time against competing families of satan worshippers. And what a collection it is. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett have assembled genre legends Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, Elijah Wood and even David Cronenberg himself to round out the supporting cast.
It would be very easy for this film to be a bland retread of the original. What stops that from happening is another spirited turn from Weaving and the addition of Newton, the latter of whom fits perfectly into this world, and shares a tremendous chemistry with the former. The supporting cast are unsurprisingly a real treat as well, with Wood especially having the time of his life as a kind of Satanic overseer. It’s all good fun. There is more blood, guts and explosions than anyone could possibly need, and while the twists and turns aren’t as twisty and turny as the original, I still left the film satisfied and even exhilarated at times.
Ready or Not 2 never threatens to match the source material, but as horror sequels go, it’s one of the better ones. Here’s to number three!
