Last night, I found myself at a special advance screening of “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” and the atmosphere was curated to be as loud as possible. Before the lights dimmed, the organizers hosted a contest to see who in the audience could deliver the loudest, most ear-piercing scream. It was a bit of fun that, in hindsight, acted as a perfect (if slightly ominous) forecast for the next 100 minutes. In this sequel, Grace’s vocal cords are working overtime. If the “2” in the title stands for anything, it’s that the screaming has been doubled.
Picking up almost immediately after the explosive finale of the 2019 cult hit, “Here I Come” finds Grace (the perpetually weary and blood-soaked Samara Weaving) thrust back into a global conspiracy that expands the Le Domas lore into a full-blown "Satanic 1%" syndicate. This time, however, she’s not alone. She’s joined by her estranged younger sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), turning the solitary survival horror of the original into a twisted “sisterhood on the mend” action flick.
The filmmaking team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett clearly aimed for “bigger,” but in the process, they shifted the tone away from the lean, sharp efficiency that made the original game so addictive. This installment feels significantly heavier and more cynical. Where the first film felt like a localized explosion of class frustration, the sequel expands the conflict into a global nightmare. It’s no longer just a desperate woman trying to survive one eccentric family. It’s an attempt to stop a systemic, worldwide predator from devouring everyone in its path.
However, the most frustrating shift is in Grace herself. In the 2019 film, she was a revelation, a tactical survivor who used her wits to outmaneuver a house full of killers. Here, the production seems obsessed with turning her into a traditional "Scream Queen," a choice that felt like a step backward for such a capable character.
There’s a glaring logic gap that kept pulling me out of the tension: in any high-stakes game of hide-and-seek, your primary weapon is silence. Watching Grace lean into high-decibel vocalizing felt like the film was auditioning for a different franchise entirely. While I recognize that panic in a real-life death trap is rarely quiet, as a viewer, it felt like the creators were prioritizing “iconic” horror imagery over the resourceful character we already loved.
The addition of Newton as Faith brings a necessary spark to the screen, and her chemistry with Weaving is delicious. They share a genuinely unhinged energy that makes the sisterly bond feel authentic, even when the script doesn’t quite support it. Faith often feels like a thinly-veiled narrative tool, a way to dump lore on the audience to justify the sequel’s existence, which makes her presence feel more like a plot requirement than a natural development.
The supporting cast, featuring veterans like Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, and Elijah Wood, is clearly relishing their “villain eras.” They provide the few witty, satiric stings that actually land, even as the film focuses more on creating “merchandisable” moments than deep character beats. It’s a movie that seems more concerned with its own aesthetic legacy than with the people we’re supposed to care about.
Despite these gripes, “Here I Come” is a reliably entertaining bloodbath that manages to eke out a win. The film finally finds its footing once it grows tired of its own “hide-and-seek” premise and introduces a few genuine surprises. It’s a 100-minute ride that bounces between decent banter and inventive gore, and while it never quite recaptures the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of its predecessor, I walked away satisfied. It’s a blast, for sure -- just a much noisier one.