What happens when you are married into the Devil’s family? Or in this case, made a pact with Le Bail, the official representative of the evil. You become a part of the system despite your inherent goodness. While it doesn’t define your entire personality, you assume the responsibility that is forged on a pact. Although forgotten through generations, the satanic ritual within the family remains hidden until a time comes where you can choose sides. In Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, Samara Weaving gets dragged back into the very same traumatic hellhole that she escaped from a few days ago in the first part. One of the leaders of the clan, who hunts her down, claims, “There are no good guys or bad guys. It’s just the ‘system’. And now you’re part of it.” And no good comes from being part of the system, unless you break it from the inside. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett effectively convey this in a blood-soaked story that majorly sticks to the script of the original 2019 movie but delivers a satisfying finish.
Cast: Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, and Elijah Wood
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
Ready or Not 2 begins with Grace (Weaving) falling unconscious from having survived a night full of terror from her sinister in-laws of the Le Domas family in a diabolical post-wedding ritual. Although the paramedics save her, a bigger danger awaits her as she seems to have triggered a new game where a group of elite high council members from across the globe gather to hunt her down once again to claim their position on the high seat which supposedly controls the entire world. With death knocking at her door for the second time, Grace re-wears her bloodied wedding outfit to finish this for good. Unfortunately the twist in the tale is that her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) too gets unwillingly tossed as bait to complete the game.
In a 'double or nothing' game, the stakes are sky-high and slowly we get exposed to the hunters, with twins Ursula (Sarah Michelle Geller) and Titus Danforth (Shawn Hatosy), the eldest in the Danforth family leading the game. While each of these characters has characteristics that aren't worth noting, Titus stands out in showing his inner evil. What happens when a man who is assumed to be the head of the family but struggles with massive insecurity? What happens when a woman takes the man's position while the latter is deemed worthless of being an heir just because he couldn't "man up"? Titus is the reflection of and offspring to toxic masculinity. Instead of showing shame and hurt, he channels pure evil in an otherworldly anger and abuse. We see the pattern appearing throughout the film in multiple forms. The makers could have extended similar character study with a few other supporting actors as well.
But that doesn't mean the film is devoid of interesting moments as a few scenes are enriched with wit and levity. One such amusing scene is when Grace uses pepper spray on Alex Le Domas' ex-fiancée Francesca. She too retorts, making them temporarily blind. They flail in the air for a while before returning back to the senses. Madhu (Varun Saranga) abdicates his position as the head of the family to make his wife play the game, and she cheats him a while later. New to the game, Faith, in one scene says, "I'm not used to people blowing up all over me." More than a breather, these entertaining bits offer an inner look at how decisions among the rich are often driven by instinct over intellect.
Taking cues from The Fall of the House of Usher and Final Destination, the film shows that death comes to each family member in most brutal forms. While the sisters are brutally beaten, shot by guns, impaled and put through near-death scenarios again and again, it is their sisterhood that is put through a test. The film justifies its theme to an extent, but it falters in exploring it deeply, even as some scenes do stand out.
During one of the moments, Faith removes shards of glass from Grace’s hand and nurses it with the alcohol to sanitise it. In the process, the sisters ease into the conversation of unravelling their old wounds one by one, from the least to the most agonising, as it resurfaces after several years. Grace is shrieking from the pain, internally and externally. Faith seems largely unfazed as she stands by her stance that her sister broke her feelings during their fallout. They clean up each other before becoming one blood together. It is these moments that stand out in a story that largely unfolds within the usual devil’s crypt. But the gashes are hard and deep, but they do not seep through the screen for us to feel them. There is also a passing mention of both sisters accusing themselves of finding partners for their lavish financial needs, essentially reducing themselves to the problematic and sexist term 'gold digger'. However, the conversation is just left there to rot.
More than the blood and gore, Ready or Not 2 provides a look into how how flawed laws and systems continue to exist. We see the characters constantly reiterating that they have "no intention" or "choice," but it is the system that convinces them that there is none. Sometimes, it stays within the family and the said system with an inescapable predicament - like Grace and Faith. For other family members, learning to survive within it slowly turns into an act of becoming forged to the pact. What begins as resistance can gradually slip into repetition, allowing the cycle to continue—the oppressed, once empowered, become the oppressor.
And so, the film leaves us with a poignant question: when your turn comes, will you break the cycle or continue it? Are you ready, or are you not?