Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come (2026) Dir: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

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2019's 'Ready Or Not' is one of my favourite horror films of the last decade, as is the case for quite a few people, so when a sequel was announced, I was fairly excited, especially since it would once again be directed by one of the most recognisable directing duos in the game right now; Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who had sine the pervious film. The early reviews were not as positive, but there was something that bothered me even more before the film came out: the '2' in the title was totally unnecessary - it ruins the flow of the title completely.

I thought their was a really solid degree of visual continuity between this film and its predecessor. This was particularly true of how Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin linked up the end of the aforementioned original film and the beginning of this sequel. The make-up and injury detailing was really strong, particularly for Samara Weaving's character, the believability of which elevated the impact of the film's, at times, intense violence.

Thr narrative played it fairly safe, it must be said, following a similar basic format to the first film, albeit with the added feature of another protagonist. I was not blown away by anything I saw, but I was certainly entertained. There were several enjoyable action set pieces throughout the film, with the wedding room scene being a personal favourite of mine. The climactic scenes of the film won't be for everyone, indeed, they are a little ridiculous, but I was able to find enjoyment in it regardless.

The film, of course, saw modern 'scream queen' Samara Weaving return to one of her most popular and career-defining roles, in a performance which once again left me impressed by the actor's sheer commitment to making her character's emotional and physical torment as believable as possible. She was also able to show a little more of her comedic side in this film, which made for some pretty funny moments. Weaving is a cracking final girl and scream queen.

Kathryn Newton, who has herself appeared in several popular horror films in the last few years, entered the fray as Weaving's on-screen sister, and provided a solidly entertaining performance. I think she suited the comedy aspects of the film quite well, albeit I found some of her more dramatic acting to be a little lacking, at least by comparison to Weaving. With that said, I enjoyed the majority of her scenes, and she worked well with her co-star.

Elijah Wood was the clear standout from the supporting cast, in my view, despite his relative lack of screentime. Wood played the character very smoothly, and allowed him to keep a little bit of a mysterious edge, which I liked a lot. I thought Sarah Michelle Gellar was a little bit up and down with her acting, but, on the whole, she was decent. Much the same can be said of her on-screen sibling; Shawn Hatosy, who started off a little weak for me, but grew into the role fairly well.

There were also some really entertaining performances from the supporting cast, with the likes of David Cronenberg, Dan Beirne, Olivia Cheng, Varun Saranga, Nestor Carbonell, Maia Jae, and Kevin Durand, all proving to be memorable and enjoyable presences, throughout the film.

Overall, I thought this was an imperfect but extremely entertaining sequel, which carried on, if not built upon, the good work of the original. It is by no means a game changer, and it definitely did not stray too far from its predecessor's successful formula, but it was still serviceable, and provided several entertaining, humorous, and altogether memorable moments. I would imagine that Searchlight are already considering a third film for the franchise, and if so, I would like to see a new protagonist, if only for something a little different. Regardless, Weaving and her co-stars did a pretty good job here. I'd happily watch this one again.