Kathryn Newton has teamed up once again with the Radio Silence directors for Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, encountering a familiar yet challenging element.
In the 2026 horror sequel, Newton portrays Faith MacCaullay, the distant sister of Samara Weaving’s character, Grace, the main character from the first film. The story of Ready or Not 2 continues right where the first film left off, with Grace having barely escaped a deadly game with her husband and his family, only to find herself captured again by a secretive group of affluent and influential families. Shackled to her sister Faith, the siblings must overcome their estranged relationship to survive another murderous game, where Grace’s survival could potentially grant her immense power.
Joining Weaving and Newton, the Radio Silence team has brought together a notable cast for Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, featuring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood, Néstor Carbonell, Kevin Durand, Olivia Cheng, Varun Saranga, and Nadeem Umar-Khitab. After premiering at SXSW, the sequel has received broadly positive reviews from critics who have highlighted its gore-filled action and humor, earning an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
During its festival premiere, ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan spoke with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kathryn Newton, and Elijah Wood in the SXSW media suite about their experiences working on Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. Newton discussed her reunion with the Radio Silence team and her ongoing struggle with a specific aspect of the film’s production. Gellar compared the film to her previous horror roles, emphasizing how this project stands apart.
Newton Still Finds On-Screen Explosions Jarring
Over recent years, Newton has become increasingly prominent in the horror genre, appearing in Christopher Landon’s Freaky and Zelda Williams’ Lisa Frankenstein. In Ready or Not 2, she returns to work with Radio Silence, having previously starred in their vampire comedy Abigail as Sammy, a daring hacker who meets a dramatic end. In this sequel, she once again encounters scenes of characters exploding, a result of the diabolical pacts made by the wealthy characters to gain their power. This effect, referred to as “pathing” by Gillett, remains unsettling for Newton, particularly the messy aftermath.
Kathryn Newton: It’s all for the fans, and you really want to make it worth their while. It’s a unique experience, akin to being backstage at a concert, with everyone gearing up for the ‘blood moment’. It’s crucial to get it right on the first take to avoid redoing the messy scene.
Elijah Wood mentioned that resetting such large-scale scenes is disappointing, and Gillett likened it to the dynamics of live theater. Gellar and Newton humorously noted that they learned a lot about the extremes of movie gore during filming, with Gellar commenting that removing cake from hair is surprisingly more challenging than blood, while Newton pointed out the various levels involved in cleanup.
Gellar, well-versed in horror and supernatural roles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to I Know What You Did Last Summer, ranked Ready or Not 2 at the top of her list for intense gore experiences, stating that it surpasses all her previous projects. When questioning the directors about the quantity of fake blood used, Bettinelli-Olpin revealed that they used 325 gallons, humorously suggesting an increase for a potential third installment, while Wood proposed a “river of blood” for future films.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is set to hit theaters on March 20!
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Ava Thornton is an entertainment journalist with a keen eye for the latest in Hollywood, indie films, and streaming trends.
Her work blends insider knowledge with a deep appreciation for storytelling.
