Despite Cameron having reviewed Ready or Not (2019), I have a vague recollection of having watched it.  This is unusual for me since it is considered a horror, albeit with a comedic angle.  Is a movie about a family of satan worshippers hunting the newest addition to their family, Grace MacCaullay (Samara Weaving), funny?  Not to this Catholic, but I am happy to report that she survives her ordeal.  Further, the argument can be made that this more fully satisfies the Church’s legitimate self-defense clause since she is being attacked by people so evidently evil.  As a critic, I can also appreciate a well-crafted story, which my fuzzy memory says it was.  With that, though I hesitated a few weeks in putting it on, I decided to give the sequel, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come a shot since I watched Project Hail Mary the weekend it premiered.  While I almost lost hope a few times while viewing Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, and that is without mentioning all the blood and gore, overall I am thankful for the result.  I will not be seeing it again, but the ending is mostly satisfying.

Remember what I said about Grace being hunted?  Well, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come picks up with the battered, bloodied, and bruised one-time bride emerging from a mansion in flames.  She is lighting a cigarette as emergency personnel arrive, and passes out before they can get her into an ambulance.  She awakens handcuffed to a hospital bed with Detective Bassett (Grant Nickalls) wanting answers.  In the middle of the questioning, in walks Faith MacCaullay (Kathryn Newton), Grace’s estranged kid sister.  The only reason Faith has come is because Grace had listed her younger sibling as an emergency contact.  Detective Bassett gives them a moment to catch up as Grace fills Faith in as to how the older woman ended up in this predicament.  For the cabal that had been behind the family into which Grace had almost married, the fact that she lived is a problem.  According to the Lawyer (Elijah Wood) who handles the affairs of these devil worshippers, the death of her would-be in-laws, who all exploded when she made it until dawn, means that they must now vie for leadership of their evil cult.  Their current head, Chester Danforth (David Cronenberg), who seemingly runs the world, summons his twin children, Titus (Shawn Hatosy) and Ursula Danforth (Sarah Michelle Gellar), to explain what needs to happen.  It is not that they do not know the rules of the upcoming contest, but he tells them that the ring that signifies their command must not pass from their family.  Because they are about to engage in a deadly game, the frail Chester does not have a chance of competing.  The solution is for daughter and son to murder father, and they proceed to smother Chester.  Meanwhile, the other families that have made a deal with the demon king, Mr. Le Bail (James Vanderbilt), for their fame and fortunes, are to gather at their resort for the ceremony.  The one thing missing is Grace, and one of their number, Bill Wilkinson (Kevin Durand), tries to get a head start on the game by going after her in the hospital.  Though she is saved by the Lawyer, who has come to collect her, it means that Faith has now become a part of this mess.  As such, they are brough before the families and told that, like before, they have to survive until the sun rises.  For the collected families, who will be introduced as needed, they have a few more guidelines to follow.  Of primary importance is the fact that they cannot kill each other.  If this happens, they will internally detonate.  Hey, I am running out of ways of saying they will explode.  The same can be said if Grace is still breathing in the morning.  The heads of each house will be the ones with the weapons that have the responsibility of ending Grace’s life.  If one of them dies, the next one in line will take their place in the field.  As for Faith, she has the misfortune of being handcuffed to Grace, so they are in this pickle together.  They are then placed on the golf course and it is good luck from that point on.  I will not be getting into all the gory details.  Rather, what is more useful is how the sisters have to work on their relationship as they fight to stay alive.  They are bitter with one another because Faith blames Grace for leaving.  Grace defends herself by saying that she had wanted to bring her little sister with her, but Faith remained bitter about being abandoned.  At one point, they have an opportunity to escape the premises, but are stopped by Titus and Ursula.  Having separated their chains, Grace tells Faith to run, but the younger sibling stays to help her elder survive.  Grace does not take this well, yelling at Faith, who storms away once they make it to the hotel ballroom.  There, Grace must tangle with Francesca El Caido (Maia Jae), who had once been engaged to the former’s ex-fiancé.  This leaves Faith to be captured by Titus, and she takes a beating in the process.  Titus and Ursula use Faith as bait to lure Grace into a trap, which works after a fashion.  Being trapped in a walk-in freezer, Titus is about to shoot Faith until Grace comes up with an idea.  Grace will marry Titus, thus giving him the sought-after ring.  At the ensuing ceremony, they exchange “I do’s” and wedding bands, but when she is given the pen to sign the contract, she uses it to take the power for herself.  With the Lawyer on hand to confirm that she now has the ability to make any decision she wants, she renounces her position and throws the key into the abattoir of a pit in which they sacrifice goats.  With three minutes left until dawn, everyone there dives into the bloody hole looking for the all-important jewelry, giving Faith and Grace the opportunity to depart in peace.

Given the death and destruction that happens in Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, it is refreshing that it concludes on a peaceful note.  As a Catholic watching it, though, I had my moments of doubt as to whether it would have such a satisfactory conclusion.  I should have been more attentive to the characters’ names, Faith and Grace, but I am getting ahead of myself.  My hopes were first kindled when one of the other family heads, Wan Chen Xing (Olivia Cheng), first mentions the possibility of marrying her son and taking the power of the evil council.  Grace’s refusal warmed this Catholic’s heart.  Aside from her denial of such a position, she adds that she could not do that to her soul, even though Faith points out that this is an obvious way to ensure their survival.  The Church says that no amount of extra time on this planet is worth the price of our soul.  Wan makes it sound easy, just a few little murders every once in a while, in exchange for unlimited wealth.  I cannot say that Grace has Christianity in mind when she says no, but she saves herself from eternal damnation by giving the correct answer.  With this scene in mind, I was therefore worried when she repeated this idea in order to save Faith, which you have to admit is an interesting phrase given the context.  To reiterate, nothing is worth the price of your soul, although one can understand the desire to sacrifice for the sake of a loved one.  At the same time, martyrdom, while easy to tell someone else to do, is an option.  Either way, she redeems herself when she uses her bloodily gained power to give herself and Faith their freedom instead of trying to enrich themselves.

Nonetheless, I would not call watching Ready or Not 2: Here I come an enriching experience.  While I am thankful that Faith and Grace emerge from their ordeal alive and with their souls relatively intact, I wish there had been some suggestion of the existence of God.  If the devil is real, there must be a greater good to keep evil in check.  Because this is not mentioned, among other factors, I recommend avoiding this one.