Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026) is directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, who also wrote the film alongside Guy Busick & R. Christopher Murphy. It stars Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, Elijah Wood, Nestor Carbonell, Dan Beirne, Olivia Cheng, Anthony Hall, Varun Saranga, Nadeem Umar-Khitab, Masa Lizdek, David Cronenberg, Maia Jae, Juan Pablo Romero, Kevin Durand, and Kara Wooten. This sequel picks up immediately following the events of Ready or Not (2019), with Grace (Weaving) recovering in the hospital. This news brings the arrival of her estranged sister, Faith (Newton). As the two siblings bicker over their rocky past, it quickly becomes clear that Grace’s triumph over her in-laws in the previous film was only the beginning. Captured by a group consisting of the world’s five most powerful/wealthy/influential families (also satanists), Grace is once again forced into a deadly game of hide & seek. This time, however, it’s double-or-nothing/winner-takes-all, with the prize being enough power to rule the world. 

Despite Hollywood’s continued failure to see her as a bankable female star in the 7 years since the first Ready or Not film, Samara Weaving is once again fantastic as Grace. She impressively blends grounded emotion, flawed personality traits, and mythical final girl bad-assery in a way that, plain and simple, just works. 

Kathryn Newton is a welcome addition as the film’s co-lead. She proves that her standout character in the director’s previous film, Abigail (2024), was no fluke. It’s clear that this is a rare combination of director(s) and actor that feels like a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, despite her inclusion never hurting this sequel, it doesn’t quite add enough to make the experience superior to the original. In other words, the character never feels like she’s impactful or particularly important. This is, in large part, due to the undercooked estranged dynamic between the two sisters. Despite being faced with multiple psychopaths trying to kill them, they seemingly can’t overcome or, at the very least, temporarily set aside their differences. This would be forgivable if the rift between them was due to something truly unforgivable, but it’s just typical emotionally-charged sister drama that isn’t even serious enough to justify their initial estrangement. 

This focus on the sister relationship leads to a number of quieter moments that feel unnatural–the hunters conveniently disappearing just long enough to let the two air out their petty grievances. This ends up feeling forced rather than natural and only highlights the previously mentioned hard-to-believe drama. It’s clear that the script was extremely rushed, which explains the contrived writing–something that’s also exemplified by the film’s recycled story structure. 

Although there are a number of fun twists on some of the original’s more memorable moments, it often fails to deliver anything that feels truly new. The expansion of the franchise’s lore feels a bit too convoluted and exposition-heavy, and its tendency to double down on the violence/blood often comes across as overkill. Thankfully, the experience is relentlessly paced and provides the best villains of the two films, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shawn Hatosy. 

Overall, this sequel succeeds at delivering a version of its predecessor that’s bigger in nearly every way, but not necessarily better. It fails to set itself apart, typically leaning toward a remix of the original rather than something risky and fresh. All that being said, I can’t imagine anyone who enjoyed the first film would consider this to be anything less than serviceable entertainment. It’s fun and satisfying, but it proves without a shred of doubt that a third installment would probably be a bad idea. B-