“The ball is in playโ to the surprise hit READY OR NOT. While the sequel is better made than the first, it lacks the same suspense because audiences now know what to expect.
The game in this sequel is the same as the first, but the stakes are raised. The kills? Bloodier. The supporting cast? Even more stacked with stars. That doesnโt take away from the gruesome, inventive fun that audiences will have in this sequel. And a lot of that is thanks to Samara Weaving’s return as Grace and her pairing with Kathryn Newton (Faith). Their chemistry and fear towards whatโs happening to them should be enough to pull audiences in as they โburn it all down.โ
One nit I had with this film is the 1st-act hospital sequence. Look, itโs 2026. Audiences are smart enough to remember what happened in the first one. And if not, they can rewatch it. Yet writers Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy have Grace literally recite everything to Faith to bring everyone up to speed. Itโs the kind of hand-holding youโd expect from a Netflix show designed for people half-watching while scrolling on their phones.
Final Thought: You donโt need a โTotal Eclipse of the Heartโ moment to fall for Grace all over again in READY OR NOT 2.
