SXSW ’26: “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” is Ready to Play
Ready or Not was one of those horror movies that seemed to take the studio that made it by surprise. Almost immediately, though, Searchlight greenlit a sequel, but it would be seven long years before audiences returned to the world of the devil-loving board game family. The premise for Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, which premiered at the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival before its March 20 theatrical release, comes from small throwaway lines in the first film. That makes this follow-up feel more natural. They’ve deepened, bloodied, and expanded the world to something larger than just one family.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come picks up where the first film ended. It’s a smartly choreographed opening that reminds viewers how Grace (Samara Weaving) ended up in a wedding dress stained a deep, blood red, smoking a cigarette the morning after her wedding. As the memories of the prior night come back to her, Grace passes out. She’s rushed to a hospital where a detective tells her she’s going away for a long, long time. Her estranged sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), has shown up at Grace’s bedside. Unbeknownest to either of them, Grace’s survival triggered the fight for control of the entire world. The wealthiest and most influential families have descended upon the Danforth estate for another game of Hide & Seek.
It’s clear that there was a huge budget upgrade for the sequel. Elijah Wood, Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Cronenberg, Shawn Hatosy, Nestor Carbonell, and other big names joined the cast. Much like the first film, this is a big ensemble flick that benefits immensely from the chaos that comes from all of these people, their various goals, and their morally bankrupt sensibilities. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come wisely doesn’t try to make a grand statement about the state of the world, other than the fact that so much of our reality is controlled by a small number of people with exorbitant amounts of money. Once you start pulling at the threads of media company ownership in the real world, it’s a bleak picture, much like the one in the film. At a point toward the end of the film, when all hope seems lost, Gellar’s Ursula tries to strike a deal with Grace. She tells her that together they can bring hope to people because Grace, unlike the members of her family, is actually capable of being hopeful. Grace admits that she once had hope, but people like Ursula made her lose it. While not a direct condemnation of the world today, it’s enough to add a little bark to Ready or Not 2: Here I Come’s bite.
As with all other sequels, Ready or Not 2 needs to make the case for its own existence. The first film neatly tied up Grace’s story and has one of the best final lines in a film, so there was understandable trepidation. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is more of the same, yes, but dialed up to another level. The set pieces are bigger and more varied. One in particular, involving pepper spray, will be the talk of the town. So what’s wrong with more of the same? Weaving’s increasingly primal screams as she continues to be trapped in this hell are roars. Grace is a killer final girl through and through. If Laurie from Halloween can be slowly chased by Michael Myers for decades, Grace should get her well-fought sequel. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come’s ending doesn’t leave much room at all for a third film, so this feels like a tidy yet bloody bow on Grace.
The relationship dynamic of Grace and Faith is what makes Ready or Not 2: Here I Come feel like something more than a retread of the past. Newton and Weaving are both firecrackers, but a TNT explosion all their own when handcuffed together. The taut sisterly relationship does get a bit circuitous as the film goes on. The two will have a breakthrough, then a comment made by one of the villains sets everything back again. While the relationship tension does make for a compelling hurdle for the sisters to overcome, it needed to be plotted a little better. It’s hard to complain, though, when Newton and Weaving are bickering in such a fast-paced, funny manner.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come didn’t need to exist, but as the credits roll, it would be a lie to pretend it wasn’t a bloody good time at the movies. With this ending, though, if a third one comes down the pipeline, the reaction may not be as kind. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come builds on the bloody mess its predecessor created to make a sweet, gnarly little popcorn flick about saving the world by making amends with your sister.
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