Time knows no boundaries in film. A movie can span 20 years or a whole plot can take place in a day. In the case of the “Ready or Not” franchise, the two films take place over the course of only two days: the sequel picks off right where the original 2019 film ends.
Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett spoke about the film in a roundtable with student journalists about the upcoming sequel. Released seven years after the original, the film follows Grace Le Domas (Samara Weaving) facing down a new horde of murderous billionaires competing for the high seat of their Satan-worshiping cult. This time, Grace’s estranged sister, Faith MacCaullay (Kathryn Newton), is brought into the mix by accident, forcing them to work together to survive until dawn as the billionaire families hunt them down.
When asked by The Beacon about the choice to center the sibling relationship in the sequel, Bettinelli-Olpin said it was the element that “unlocked” the whole movie. While the first film primarily centered Grace’s relationship with her fiancé Alex Le Domas (Mark O’Brien), there was little left of that original cast and plot to work with for a sequel. As a result, the directors had the flexibility to expand rather than stay within the original dynamics.
“It was the first movie with such a strong relationship between Alex and Grace that you watch crumble and fall apart over the course of the movie,’ Bettinelli-Olpin said. “For this, it was how do we do the inverse of that and kind of create like a love story.”
The film also features the sibling relationship between the members of one of the billionaire families, Ursula Danforth (Sarah Michelle Geller) and Titus Danforth (Shawn Hatosy). It serves as an antithesis of the main characters’ relationship, as audiences watch Ursula and Titus turn against each other during their fight for the high seat of their cult.
Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett previously directed “Scream” (2022) and “Scream VI” (2023). Both credited the work they did on the films to revive and modernize a beloved franchise while still crafting an original sequel as vital preparation for making the second “Ready or Not.”
“[Our approach] was, how do you pay respect and love the thing that you’ve made, but also not be afraid to really challenge yourself?” Gillett said. “We didn’t just treat the sequel like this big, precious thing and turn away from all of the fun risks and ideas that might feel fresh and new … we steered into [it].”
When the two first started developing this sequel, they looked to films such as “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” (1991) and “Aliens” (1986) as benchmarks for the kind of follow-up they wanted, specifically one that would expand the world of the first movie.
“We really studied those, and I think the idea of, ‘Oh, what you saw in the first movie was just the tip of the iceberg,’” Bettinelli-Olpin said. “There’s this whole other awful cabal of people doing these horrible things … That just to us was like, ‘Oh shit, the possibilities are limitless.’”
The framework and diversity of the ensemble cast for this second film allowed for the directors to have ultimate creativity. From costuming to innovating staging, they said they worked closely with their production designer, Andrew Stearn, and others on their team to create a world where all the separate families in the cult felt distinctly unique, yet cohesive as a whole.
“Once that idea was there … it felt like a playground where we could just do whatever we wanted,” said Bettinelli-Olpin.
Though, with that framework, they made a point to avoid repetition. The action in the film, they explained, is not for its own sake, but contains plot development and movement.
“In those interactions and intersections with the villains, there’s real character work happening, and there’s a real sense of progression and evolution of what Grace understands, what Faith understands, their relationship, and certainly what the villains also understand,” Gillett said.
Despite a seven-year time gap between the release of the first film and the second, the directors affirmed how much they enjoyed the process of returning to the world and adding more to it.
“Even though these movies are seven years apart, it was a real homecoming,” Gillett said. “It was like getting together with your best friends after years apart.”
The directors spoke of how the actors added to the second film, such as Gellar as Ursula and Elijah Wood as the Lawyer, wanted to join in, as they were fans of the first film.
“I think that there was sort of proof that it could work, and because of that … we were able to play out of the league a little bit in some respects,” Bettinelli-Olpin said.
That new and expanded cast gave the movie an extra shine, they said, as everyone wanted to add their own details to their role and performances, often spontaneously, while shooting.
“Some of our favorite moments are the things that aren’t scripted,” Bettinelli-Olpin said. “They don’t exist on the page and they really happen in the moment, on the day … Everybody that we cast showed up with that level of dedication and intention.”
