Ready or Not 2: Here I Come

(dir. by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillet)

By: Dave Hughes

Horror comedy is a tricky balance to navigate. On one hand, there’s absolutely an audience for it but on the other, if it fails, it can be the brunt of jokes and not draw at the office. In 2019, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet were able to successfully find this balance with the first Ready or Not. Led by new killer final girl Grace MacCulley (Samara Weaving), Ready or Not found its fanbase and is widely recognized by horror aficionados. The same creative team returns for Here I Come and audiences can expect more of the same antics, with some twists and turns to keep the game fresh. 

Ready or Not: Here I Come begins immediately after the events of the first film. Weaving’s Grace has survived her first game of Hide and Seek and stumbles out onto the stairs of the burning mansion. From this moment, audiences are taken on an around the world journey of other families that may try to seek power on the high council now that one family is destroyed. While hospitalized, Grace is visited by her estranged sister, Faith,played by Kathryn Newton(Big Little Lies, Freaky). The tension between the two is palpable which thematically continues throughout the film. However, the sisters are once again roped into a deadly game of hide and seek where the odds are raised and must work together to survive. 

Samara Weaving (Mayhem, Guns Akimbo) once again carries this sequel into familiar territory. It’s hard to say that many other actors are capable of blending her unique humor involving quips and asides to the audience with a vulnerability all her own. There are also moments of genuine empathy that shine through when Weaving and Newton’s characters interact, but especially in the film’s third act. Weaving herself handles the anger, trauma and sheer absurdity in this film with a charisma that audiences loved while watching the first film. Newton may take awhile to build up empathy for her character, but by the end of the film there is an earned energy and dynamic specific to her character. The rest of the cast is a welcome addition to the Ready or Not family. Sarah Michelle Gellar(Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scooby-Doo) harkens back to her work in Cruel Intentions as her role as Ursule Danforth, a wealthy socialite. Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) is a delight as he embodies a very professional but deeply sinister attorney.

Here I Come adds rules and twists to prevent it from being a  retread of the first film. Once the game begins, the deaths and scares are fun but it becomes tiresome as the film’s runtime seems to drag a bit. For a horror comedy there are surprisingly dark turns in the film’s third act. These dark choices work in the favor of the film but may catch some off guard with the brutality of its violence. 

Target Score 7/10: Ready or Not: Here I Come is a fun worthwhile successor to the 2019 original. Although it may not be as groundbreaking, Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton create a fun pairing that will surely  have horror comedy audiences smiling.