Where were you when you saw the first Ready or Not? I was on a plane, it was six in the morning, and I was like, Wait, this is awesome. The 2019 comedy-horror film centers on an unsuspecting bride, Grace (Samara Weaving), who gets caught up in her new aristocratic in-laws’ twisted game night and must fight for her survival. It was ahead of its time, all considered, blending class commentary and yucky gore long before something like The Menu or Blink Twice. Weaving is a world-class scream queen, and the film ushered in what we now know to be the Adam Brody–ssance. One would maybe hope that the world has become a little more fair or equitable in the six years since Ready or Not, but mostly, things have gotten worse. That’s bad news for us but good news for the foremost childhood games turned anti-capitalist blood sport film series.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come — perfect title, no notes, thank you so much — arrives in theaters on April 10, 2026, though if the studio execs were feeling generous, this is the type of bright, splashy, fun pulp that ought to come out in January, when everyone is in their worst mood and sick of talking about Hamnet. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, Ready or Not 2 mostly seems to be doing, well, hide and seek all over again. Grace is back, having survived her encounter against the Le Domas family, but now she has to play hide and seek again against the “high council families,” per a snide explanation from Elijah Wood. During the game, she’s also got to keep an eye on her little sister, played by fellow scream queen Kathryn Newton. Members of the high council families include Sarah Michelle Gellar (yay), The Pitt’s Shawn Hatosy (yay), the somehow still ageless Néstor Carbonell (yay), and David Cronenberg (wow!). There’s an indulgent satisfaction to these films, most notably on display in this new trailer when Gellar literally stakes Weaving in the heart (or … the shoulder, most likely), that prevents them for tipping into a haughty self-seriousness. Like any good game, it’s all about having fun.
Related
