'Ready or Not 2: Here I Come Review: Radio Silence's Blood-Soaked Sister-centric Sequel is Sillier than Sinister
Here comes the bride again…
In their post-Ghostface era, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of Radio Silence have leaned further into their playful horror sensibilities. The 2019 original Ready or Not placed its shoe and blood-soaked wedding dress-fitted final girl, Grace (Samara Weaving), in a terrifying scenario that highlighted their own explosive horror more than its comedy. By the time we got to Abigail, they embraced being complete horror-comedic filmmakers, ensuring their supernatural final girls get the last laugh. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come sets Grace another set of homicidal upper-class assholes while confronting Joachim Trier-type family trauma with her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton). This sequel goes full screwball, doubling down on brutal violence, fights, and laughs. The result is a sillier, bloated, but still entertaining follow-up that takes a remix route rather than a complete rehash.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
MPA Rating: R (for strong/bloody violence and language.)
Runtime: 1 Hour and 48 Minutes
Language: English
Production Companies: Searchlight Pictures, Vinson Films, Mythology Entertainment, Radio Silence
Distributor: Searchlight Pictures
Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Screenwriters: Guy Busick, R. Christopher Murphy
Cast: Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, Néstor Carbonell, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood
U.S Release Date: March 20, 2026
Moments after Ready or Not’s events, widowed Grace (Weaving) wakes in a hospital. She’s visited by her estranged sister Faith (Newton), whom she hasn’t seen in seven years since they were separated in foster care. The reunion is cut short when they’re kidnapped and taken to an estate run by another cabal of wealthy Satanists.
This time the families operate on a global scale: Spain’s Ignacio El Caido (Nestor Carbonell) and his daughter, Francesca (Maia Jae); Shanghai’s Wan Chen Xing (Olivia Cheng); London’s Madhu (Varun Saranga) and Viraj Rajan (Nadeem Umar-Khitab); and America’s Succession-style twins Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Titus Danforth (Shawn Hatosy).
Exposited by “The Lawyer” (Elijah Wood), Grace learns that the late Daniel Le Domas belonged to a secret global high council. Their explosive demise left the “High Seat” vacant, granting immense power to whoever claims it. The deadly game begins again: the families hunt Grace, and she must survive until dawn. But this time, Faith is forced to play alongside her, leaving the sisters to repair their bond while fighting their way through another night of murderous elites.
Ready or Not 2 is a bigger game with bigger idiots
From L to R: Juan Pablo Romero, Nestor Carbonell, Varun Saranga, Maša Lizdek, Shawn Hatosy, Samara Weaving, Nadeem Umar-Khitab, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Daniel Beirne, Kathryn Newton, Antony Hall, and Olivia Cheng in READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME. Photo by Searchlight Pictures/Pief Weyman, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2026 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come delivers the same gory, brutal, run-and-gun horror violence as the first film. It takes the John Wick: Chapter 2and Scream V approach, employing a secretive, powerful high council, but with the final girl's estranged sister getting thrown into the mix. The rules established by screenwriters Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy in the predecessor are repeated.
Although the Le Domas family Grace dealt with before were slightly more dangerous than they were humorous, Here I Come tilts the balance among the newly minted-soon-to-be-minced council members. It’s a solid change given how this entry embraces its screwball nature, with Radio Silence doubling down on the comedy. The deaths are particularly noteworthy when they’re executed for comedic relief or as visual gags; a fight scene involving a pepper-sprayed Grace marks as the funniest. The spontaneous balloon pop combustion novelty gets old as fast as the gore featured on The Boys, but it spins some great gags out of them.
The bizarre, rambunctious energy is further enhanced by the stellar comedic timing of the character actors who portray these killers, in contrast to Grace's now sardonic nature. All the power-hungry foes are idiots of different sorts. Among the villainous families, the standout is Maia Jae's Francesca, the crazy ex-bride, scorned that Grace won her dead hubby Alex's heart. I love that this sequel features families on a global, diverse scale, letting every race hunt these Brooklyn-based working-class sisters. Well, except Black people. On one hand, boo, we deserve Black rich Satanist representation. On the other hand, maybe it’s best not to see them popping like balloons.
The main familial antagonistic duo is Ursula and Titus Danforth, who are mostly Shiv and Kendall Roy in Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shawn Hatosy clothing (David Cronenberg appears in a funny cameo acting as their Logan Roy). Gellar and Hatosy are effectively terrifying in their respective roles, particularly the latter, who does a strong slow burn to insidious psychopathy.
Family ties drive Ready or Not 2, for better and worse.
Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton in READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME. Photo by Searchlight Pictures/Pief Weyman, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2026 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved
Guy Busick, the co-writer of Scream V and VI, appears to be fixated on rekindling the bond between Grace and Faith, which is the centerpiece of Here I Come. Radio Silence alumni Newton and Weaving, who are typically the standouts in their respective films, exhibit strong chemistry in this context. Newton's bubbly, sarcastic jokes and Weaving's dry wit provide a delightful source of humor. Weaving’s bare-knuckle resistance mixed with stoic eldest-daughter energy carries the film. However, their sad sisterly abandonment argument, ripped straight from the Carpenter sisters' book, is underdeveloped and extremely strained. As the sisters argue about the same thing over and over, the film's structure is negatively impacted. Every notable survival set piece is fragmented by the girls’ bantering, cheapening their relationship midway through.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come isn’t a blockbuster, but at times it feels like it’s been run through a garish, MCU machine. Radio Silence’s direction and Brett Jutkiewicz’s cinematography lack the Pantone palette that gave the original film its sinister tension. Here I Come often looks like a routine sequel. The film is undeniably well-shot, but some of the set pieces' staging and editing are shoddy. It’s an explosive blast that, even with its downgrade in production quality, the charm and excitement are still present.
Final Statement
With Kathryn Newton and Samara Weaving sharing strong sisterly chemistry, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come remains a gory, entertaining ride, even if it isn’t quite the level-up the sequel should’ve been.
