Plot
Grace has just survived her ordeal at the Le Domases’ and finds out that the sacrifice to Le Bail is far from over.
When Chester Danforth, who is essentially the “ruler of the world” calls the five remaining families together to complete the ritual – declaring that the “ball is still in play” the ball being Grace.
Soon the families come together to finish what the Le Domases started… the only problem is Grace’s long abandoned sister has come back into her life – and now the estranged siblings must once again (for Grace) play a game of Hide and Seek – and survive the night.
Direction
Directed by the Radio Silence team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.
Cast
Samara Weaving is of course back as Grace, and despite over half a decade passing – looks exactly the same. She fears a lot better here than her previous run in with Radio Silence.
Kathryn Newton plays Faith, Grace’s younger sister – who has been apart for several years.
The five families consist of;
The Danforth’s – father Chester (played by Director royalty David Cronenberg), his twin children Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Titus (Shawn Hatosy).
The El Caido’s – Nestor Carbonel plays Ignacio. His children are also in his accompaniment.
The Wan family – with Olivia Cheng playing Chen Xing – the head of her family.
The Rajan family – and the Wilkinson family are also in “attendance” (although one family member ‘does’ break the rules by trying to start the game before it starts – which ends in a rather bloody experience.
The MVP however is Elijah Wood – who plays the Lawyer of the families – who sets all the rules and is present throughout the entire proceedings.
Breakdown
Seven years for us, but 24hrs later for Grace – the story continues as she is reunited with her long estranged sister Faith, just at the same time a secret society of the world’s wealthiest families decide to come together and continue the game started by the Le Domases ended so bloodily.
Thankfully we the audience get a slight recap of what occurred in the first film, normally this sort of thing could be slightly convoluted or ‘expositional’ – but because of how long ago the first film was made, it felt almost necessary to include it.
There is a fair amount of both the exposition and mythos of the families (who they are, and what they get if they win the game… essentially world domination). This is mostly told by the mysterious Lawyer of the ‘Council of Families’ played brilliantly by Elijah Wood.
Once the film does get going, and the ‘game starts’ at the 35 minute mark – it is just as bloody and graphic as the first film. My slight complaint is that there doesn’t seem to be anything ‘new’ in the deaths – they all explode just as they did in the first film. But because of some of the rules, some of the families either bring on their deaths themselves (by trying to start the game early) or unintentionally bring it on themselves (by killing one another).
The ‘bonding’ of Grace and Faith feels as if the emotional moments have been forced on us, and it is hard to have these moments in-between all the carnage.
Some of tension between the families (the Danforths and the Rajan’s) seems as if it is supposed to be a contrast between Grace and Faith – as they are growing closer, but this isn’t portrayed as well as it could be.
There are some great players within the film, with pretty much everyone bringing their A game. Weaving has worked with Radio Silence countless times now, and they all have a great partnership with each other.
My MVP goes to Elijah Wood, who is a continuous presence throughout the entire proceedings. He adds both a calm, and also moments of slight comedy with his facial expressions. I also think this was one of Shaun Hatosy’s strongest performances. He has been around for close to three decades, and I’m glad he’s finally getting his due, with this and his role in The Pitt. There is a fight sequence between himself and Faith that is super brutal… even for a horror movie!!
There are a tone of laugh out loud moments, with one of those being the fight sequence between Grace and Francesca (who hates Grace for marrying Daniel). This also includes another instance of “Americans can’t use the c word” from Francesca to Gracey.
I quite liked the ending of the film (even if I wanted “more” from Sarah Michelle Geller!) – and how Grace ‘frees’ herself from The Council of Families. This is another example of Wood’s comedic facial expressions that make him such a great addition.
Overall
Solid, if not slightly unnecessary sequel – really ups the ante on the action and bloodbath.
Some great performances (especially from Wood and Hatosy, but especially Weaving), some surprise cast members, some early and hilarious exits, some surprise endings, and some fairly brutal moments.
Very watchable, not for the faint hearted.
3.5/5
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