With the first Ready or Not released almost a full seven years ago now, it’s safe to say the perspective on the rich and how fucked up they are has only grown darker and more cynical in the wake of the many horrifying revelations of the Epstein files. Which is why Ready or Not 2: Here I Come arrives at arguably the perfect moment to stoke the flames of hatred for the rich, who, once again, serve as the villains in this sequel. And, this time around, it’s not just one “elite” family that Grace MacCaullay (Samara Weaving) must go up against, but four (after the unexpected elimination a.k.a. implosion of yet another besides the Le Domases). Including the Danforths, the most powerful family among the original six. Only now they’re slated to lose that degree of power since Grace has managed to eradicate the Le Domases with her ability to last through the dawn after her wedding night, activating a rarely-used clause in Mr. Le Bail’s (James Vanderbilt) contract.
In fact, Ready or Not 2 picks up right where the first movie left off. And, following Grace’s quippy delivery of the line, “In-laws” by way of explaining what happened to her, she allows herself to collapse to the pavement, as if the weight of everything that occurred during the past twenty-four hours finally hits her all at once. And as the sound of Amy Winehouse’s version of “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” (immediate evidence of the sequel’s bigger budget) plays, Grace is rushed to the hospital in an ambulance while paramedics shock her back to life. Each shock allowing a flashback to the events, done for the sake of the audience who didn’t care enough to watch or rewatch the first movie.
When Grace wakes up again fully revived in a hospital room, her troubles are hardly over just because she got the Le Domases off her back. Indeed, she soon finds out that their demise has triggered a rare turn of events in Mr. Le Bail’s contract, allowing for the other powerful families that make up a High Council to compete for the Danforths’ High Seat. The seat the holds the most power—in other words, the power to control the entire world. Which is why, at the beginning of the movie, the viewer will notice Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar, who at least has a few opportunities to go “all Buffy” for certain scenes in this sequel, since the Buffy reboot was kiboshed [for now]) and Titus’ (Shawn Hatosy, a knockoff Chris Pratt, of sorts) father, Chester Danforth (played by none other than David Cronenberg), watching the news and seeing a “No End in Sight” headline about a war, then deciding to make a call to order a ceasefire. Seconds later, a “Breaking News” headline appears that shows a ceasefire was approved. Yes, it’s that kind of power. Which is what makes it so understandably covetable among the five families now remaining (all of whom are powerful because they made the same kind of deal with the devil a.k.a. Mr. Le Bail that the Le Domases did way back when).
Among them are the Danforth, Xing, Rajan, El Caido and Wilkinson families, led, respectively, by Ursula/Titus, Wan Chen (Olivia Cheng), Viraj (Nadeem Umar-Khitab), Ignacio (Néstor Carbonell) and Bill (Kevin Durand). It’s the latter who can’t control his lust for all-consuming power, screaming, “Fuck the rules!” (the rich person’s mantra, basically) as he enters the hospital where Grace is not only “recuperating” (though barely given much time to do that), but also being questioned by the police for her presumed murder of the Le Domas family—for that is how it looks to anyone who doesn’t believe in Faustian pacts.
Even Grace’s own sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), has trouble believing her older sister when she shows up to visit her in the hospital because she’s listed as the emergency contact. Of course, part of Faith’s reluctance to believe her sister (until she, too, has the guts and other assorted innards of a rich person explode onto her) is that they haven’t spoken in seven years. Their estrangement, as the viewer eventually finds out, stemming from Grace “leaving her behind” with their foster parents when she turned eighteen to move to New York. Heartbroken by her sister doing something that’s, well, honestly kind of normal and expected, Faith refuses to speak to Grace after she leaves, evidently feeling too abandoned and angry to do so.
But now, here they are, tied together (both figuratively and by handcuffs) to compete in this new game that also allows Grace a shot at the High Seat a.k.a. becoming the ruler of the world. As explained to her by “Lawyer” (Elijah Wood, playing the kind of “freako” role he so relishes and offering still more proof of this movie’s bigger budget than the first), Mr. Le Bail’s representative in all affairs. Meanwhile, Faith’s presence, as far as Grace can surmise, is meant only to slow her down, to make her more vulnerable to the others. And it’s true, Faith is often used as leverage to force Grace into doing things, including participating at all in this new game. Allowing for a sequel that “ups the emotional stakes,” as it were. For it’s true that Grace seemed to have far less to lose in the first movie (when she was presumed to be “family-less”) than she does in this one, also helmed by the same directing and writing team as before (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy, respectively). And perhaps because it’s the same team that worked on Ready or Not that its successor maintains a similar level of “entertainment value,” even if the tone and genre itself has shifted ever so slightly. Becoming less “horror-comedy” and more “horror-action.” As well as becoming another rare genre: the “sister movie.”
Incidentally, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett were intending to develop a “sister story” for Weaving and Newton that was meant to be a separate project. But when approached by the studio (Seachlight Pictures) to direct a sequel to Ready or Not, they decided to absorb that story into this one. Et voilà, a mélange of genres in one. And yes, like many sister movies (e.g., What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?), the relationship between Grace and Faith (Titus is the one to comment on their “variations on a theme” names, “Grace and Faith. Fucking Irish Catholics”) is often fraught, tense. This being as much a core aspect of Ready or Not 2 as the continuing commentary on “rich people behavior.” Particularly when it comes to how savage they are toward their own blood, while simultaneously wanting to ensure that only their blood keeps getting all the wealth across the generations.
Of course, being so accustomed to getting what they want for all these years has made the next generation of affluent pricks soft and useless. Incapable of “earning” their wealth if it isn’t essentially handed to them from the ones that came before. And in this regard, too, Ready or Not 2 offers yet another scathing critique of the rich. A genre unto itself, these days.
