Content warning: spoilers ahead
Ready or Not 2 earned $9 million on box office opening day and continues to profit. Set immediately after Ready or Not (2019) where young bride Grace played by Samara Weaving is manipulated into playing a game that only ends at midnight. Grace must stay hidden from her in-laws who must kill Grace during hide or satanic figure Mr Le Bail will make them explode.
The first movie ends with Grace in a blood soaked wedding dress where emergency services can be seen asking what happened to her. She replies “in-laws” before collapsing. Ready or Not 2 (2026) immediately picks up where viewers left off. But this time we know there are several families that belong to the council other than the one Grace married into.
Grace is forced to fight for her survival again in the second movie after surviving until midnight during the previous game. This triggers a unique by-law in the rules book that the six remaining elite families must follow. The head council seat (the top family who controls the world and government) is now vacant and a new game must commence to play for it. Whichever family kills Grace earns the high seat.
However, this time Grace is handcuffed to her estranged sister Faith, played by Kathryn Newton, where they are able to bond during the traumatising game.
Image Credit Grace Outside Burning Le Domas House: Comingsoon.net
Foreshadowing
The “Ceasefire” Phone Call: Chester Danforth (David Cronenberg) makes a quick phone call to force a global ceasefire. This is shown on live TV demonstrating the absolute power of the Council’s High Seat. This foreshadows how Grace (once she technically holds that seat) is able to abolish the entire organisation.
The Marriage Loophole: Early in the film, the head of the Wan family mentions a loophole. By marrying into one of the families Grace grant that person the “high seat”. This directly foreshadows Grace’s decision to marry Titus Danforth (Shawn Hatosy) at the end of the movie. Subsequently, this allows the game of hide and seek to end.
“No Rules Against Family”: During the film Titus kills his own sister, Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar). He overhears her plan to betray him and shoves her head into a burning fireplace. Titus justifies this murder by stating there is “no rule against killing your own family”. Grace later repeats this exact line back to him as she stabs him to death immediately after their wedding. Therefore, Grace uses his own logic against him to justify his murder and claim the “high seat” for herself. Grace uses her newly found omnipotent power to disband the council. She throws their sacred status symbol ring into a pile of corpses leaving the elite scrambling to retrieve it. As midnight strikes, all remaining elite families and their family line, including innocent children, explode. Don’t worry, Grace saves the goat.
Image Credit Blood Soaked Wedding Dress Grace and Buffy-Inspired-Outfit Sister Faith: Movieweb.com
“Eat The Rich” Themes
Throughout the movie, the Lawyer (Elijah Wood) is always smirking. This implies that he suspected the greedy elite families would eventually die trying to grasp more power.
Moreso, Grace’s choice to wear the same blood soaked wedding gown from the first movie is a visual reminder of her status as the survivor who has already beaten the elite. Grace becomes a symbol of resistance against the uneven power hierarchy within society.
Grace even refers to joining the council as “Selling my soul.” This signifies the enormous sacrifices that Mr Le Bail expects as the devil behind the game. One known sacrifice mentioned frequently is the slaughtering of goats and rituals the elite perform to honour Mr Le Bail (the devil who created the satanic cult).
Image Credit: Twins and High Seat Members Ursula and Titus “PeePaw”: Moviefone.com
Potential for Ready or Not 3
The direction company Radio Silence and writer Guy Busick have dropped several hints about where a third film may happen. Faith could star as the lead dealing with the curse she inherited. Another idea explores the aftermath of the High Council’s absence when there are no elites to rule the world. Mr. Le Bail himself might resort to controlling things. Or Mr. Le Bail might come to collect his debt directly from the sisters since they defeated his game.
After the Buffy The Vampire Slayer reboot cancellation in 2026, fans have been angrily harassing HBO and other production teams to pick it back up. Sarah Michelle Geller’s wide fan base is accredited to some of Ready or Not 2′s success.
Other famous actor Elijah Woods (Lord of the Rings) helped to set the movie up for success after old internet memes began circulating where an interviewer is repeatedly asking him if he wears wigs. This helped to market the movie to a wide audience online.
Shawn Hatosy is notoriously known to his young American female fans as “Pewpaw.” The nickname implies that he is old enough to be their Grandfather, but attractive enough for them to ignore the age gap. One anonymous twenty-year-old at Vue cinema Glasgow commented “Pewpaw is giving Daddy.”
Image Credit of PeePaw: Imbd.com
My Opinion
Overall, I would rate the movie 5 stars and I actually went to see it twice. The first time I saw the movie the plot was a complete surprise to me so it lived up to its claim to be a thriller- horror. There was also a few comedic moments tied to perfectly timed explosions and witty comments. A noticable scene was when Grace and her ex- fiance’s ex- fiancee were blindly fighting each other after a pepper spraying incident. Moreso, the second time I saw the movie I could appreciate all the foreshadowing.
I feel it is highly likely that they will start filming a third movie, despite the large seven year gap between the first and second movie’s release. However, it won’t be possible for some of the dead characters to return. This means we should expect some fresh faces in the cast.
Image Credit collage of Elijah Woods, Samantha Weaving and Sarah Michelle Gellar: Yahoo.com
Fourth Year English and Journalism Student
