‘Ready or Not: Here I Come’ Adds More Players but Isn’t a Game Changer

I don’t mind the idea of sequels. Franchises may go on far past their prime, but if a film is a hit and there’s room to continue the story, then it makes both narrative and financial sense to add a new installment. While the sequel typically pales in comparison to the original, it at least provides an odd sense of comfort. You know what you’re getting, and while that may mean fewer surprises, it’s not necessarily bad to hop back into familiar waters. Ready or Not: Here I Come is that comforting sequel. It’s pretty much the first movie again with a few added bells and whistles, but directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (the filmmaking duo also known as “Radio Silence”) haven’t stayed too far from their 2019 movie. They keep their heroes on the run from devil-worshipping rich people. That’s it. That’s the game. It’s fun for what it is.

Picking up where the first film left off, Grace (Samara Weaving) barely has time to process what happened when her new husband and his family exploded after failing to kill her in a Satan-worshipping game of Hide and Seek. She awakens in a hospital with her estranged younger sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) reluctantly present as the emergency contact. Unfortunately for the siblings, Grace’s survival triggered a “double or nothing” game of Hide and Seek where those seated at the high council need to kill her if they want devil-fueled full control of the world. This sends Faith and Grace scrambling across a country club as they try to survive wealthy sociopaths like the Danforth Twins, Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Titus (Shawn Hatosy).

The story tries to expand a bit by leaning into the drama between Grace and Faith. Faith felt abandoned by Grace and is doubly upset that she’s now being hunted simply by virtue of their relation. However, the film doesn’t really know how to make these scenes organic to the plot, so they function as weird little interludes between the action. The film falls into a pattern where Faith and Grace are on the run, they find a place where they can catch their breath, and then they have a heart-to-heart. It’s fine, but there’s not much texture to Grace and Faith’s relationship. All they have is resentment and guilt rather than any idea of a relationship that existed prior to their split seven years prior. There’s no “remember when we…” or “Do you still…” or anything to signify the sibling bond here. 

It’s clear that the film wants to draw a comparison between the strained bond between Grace and Faith and the toxic bond between Ursula and Titus, but that never lands either. Titus is too openly psychotic and violent to garner any sympathy, and while Gellar does her level best to add some pop to Ursula (if you squint, you can see shades of Buffy Summers), the script basically stops with “these siblings are fighting these other siblings.” So much of Here I Come is about hitting the basics rather than finding places where the story could go a bit deeper.

But if you showed up for more bloody violence, you won’t be disappointed. It’s still the same kind of whackadoo fight for survival, where the families aren’t allowed to use weaponry that existed after they joined the council. That means while one family can use sniper rifles and a bazooka, the Danforths are stuck using a flintlock pistol and an axe. And yet, for all of these older tools, it feels like Radio Silence only has one big trick in their bag, which is the exploding people. And that’s fine, but it feels like a gag that has lost its punch. It’s still funny, but nowhere near as good as when it capped off the first movie.

And that’s pretty much Ready or Not: Here I Come—funny enough, but not the unexpected joy of the first film. I can’t necessarily begrudge it for doing what it promises or trying to recreate that thrill of the original, but it is the kind of sequel we’ve seen countless times before that banks on expansion rather than trying to reimagine what this concept could be. It’s still entertaining enough, and yet you can’t help but wonder what it would look like if the filmmakers didn’t play it so safe.

'Ready or Not: Here I Come' is now in theaters.