‘Ready or Not 2’ Offers Gory Fun But Doesn’t Quite Level Up

Released in 2019—a few years before directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett were tapped to revitalize the Scream franchise—Ready or Not is a deliciously vicious treat. It follows newlywed Grace (Samara Weaving) as she’s forced to play a deadly version of hide-and-seek, lest her in-laws run afoul of the dark forces they serve in exchange for their immense wealth. Ready or Not takes jabs at how the uber-rich are ruthlessly invested in preserving their way of life, with the clever detail that this particular family, the Le Domases, built its fortune on games. When Grace, still in her wedding dress, draws a card to determine what they’ll play, she inadvertently pulls the one that means she’ll be hunted to the death. The delight of the movie, of course, is that the scrappy Grace proves extremely resilient, emerging the “winner” by still being alive at dawn. Then, we get to see all the surviving Le Domas family members graphically explode one by one as their deal with the devil comes due. Running through Ready or Not is necessary here because not only does Ready or Not 2: Here I Come pick up precisely where the first film leaves off—Grace, in her torn and blood-soaked gown, fin