Why Ready or Not's Grace is the perfect final girl for our times

As soon as a sequel was announced to Ready or Not, I was eager to see Grace (Samara Weaving) return to action. While there have been other movies that lampooned the uber wealthy from that era (Parasite especially comes to mind), Ready or Not had a final girl in Grace that simply felt right for the times, for a period of skyrocketing economic inequality that's only worsened since the movie's 2019 release.

Just consider an article from Forbes in November, which cites an Oxfam report about obscene levels of economic inequality. According to the article and the report, the richest 1 percent of households in the U.S. have accumulated almost 1,000 times more wealth than the poorest 20 percent over the last three and a half decades. In other words, economic inequality has grown at a rapid and alarming pace. The article further breaks down wealth accumulation, and it's truly worth a read for its eye-opening data.

In contrast, Grace is a final girl from humble beginnings. In the first movie, she's on the cusp of marrying into a wealthy family as if it's a fairytale. Her fiancé, Alex (Mark O'Brien), is a son within the Le Domas family. Yet, we soon learn that Grace means absolutely nothing to the family. In fact, it turns out that the Le Domas clan maintains its power and status, in part, because they're part of a Satanic cult that demands sacrifice. Grace is asked to pick a card and play a game. After she selects a hide and seek card, the family literally hunts her. Even her fiancé turns on her. Grace is utterly disposable to them, and yet, this final girl with a scrappy background bests them all and literally laughs in their faces just before they explode into goop because they failed to kill her. She evolves from having no agency as a pawn of the Le Domas' sick and twisted games, to eventually hunting them and surviving.

Who doesn't love seeing a final girl with such humble beginnings beat those who have it all? They underestimated Grace, and through her grit and determination to survive, bloodied wedding dress and all, she defeats them and survives until dawn. Their whacko ritual fails.

Samara Weaving as Grace and Kathryn Newton as Faith in Ready or Not 2 - Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

The next section of the article contains major spoilers for Ready or Not 2.

Ready or Not 2 expands Grace's backstory and final girl arc

If you consider that report about economic inequality republished in Forbes, then what better time than now to have a sequel to Ready or Not? The movie, also directed by Radio Silence, expands the lore. Instead of facing off against a single family, Grace combats several families, all of which have massive power and influence. This is best reflected in an early scene when David Cronenberg's character Chester Danforth watches the news, including a clip about war in the Middle East. He suddenly picks up the phone and tells the receiver to order a ceasefire. Moments later, news breaks about a ceasefire. It's a comical yet resonant clip about who pulls the strings and thus, the chain of world events.

Chester Danforth is the patriarch of one of the elite families that Grace ultimately defeats in the sequel. Before that, however, the families realize that to obtain the highest seat on the council, they have to kill her, along with her sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), who visits Grace in the hospital at the film's opening because she was listed as the emergency contact. Without realizing what she stepped into, Faith is forced to also survive.

It's a heck of a good time watching Faith and Grace beat uber wealthy jerks. The film ups the gore from the first movie, but it also expands Grace's backstory. We learn she was a product of the foster care system. Others accused her of trying to marry into wealth and power through her engagement to Alex. None of the families actually believe Alex could have actually loved her. In fact, Alex's ex calls Grace a gold digger at one point.

Meanwhile, we also learn that Grace fled a foster home when she was 18 and moved to New York City to carve out a better life. Though Faith accuses Grace of abandoning her, Grace counters that she wanted to build a better future for both of them. Again, this gives a lot more weight and backstory to Grace's final girl arc. Even more so than the first film, the sequel explores who has access to the American dream and who does not. Grace and Faith were always underdogs with limited resources. They chased the American dream to the Big Apple. We learn that Faith ultimately moved to NYC in hopes of a better life, too. Yet, much of that dream turned out to be a mirage. After initially lying that she's a social media content manager, Faith confesses that she's actually a hostess. Grace, at one point, worked as a waitress. No matter how hard they try, they can't escape the hustle and blue-collar rung of the ladder.

My favorite scene in the sequel comes in the final act. To survive and save her sister, Grace agrees to marry the violent and misogynistic Titus Danforth (Shawn Hatosy), Chester Danforth's brute of a son. The man is so power-hungry that he murders his sister, Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar), with his bare hands shortly before the wedding because he doesn't want anyone to control him, and he's not too keen on sharing power with his sis, either. We're then led to believe that Grace is going to marry him, after she appears at the altar in a black gown. However, after they say their vows, she stabs him and tosses a ring that signifies his top position on the council into a pit. She and Faith then watch the cultists/uber wealthy jump into the pit to grab the ring and top spot. It's a pure delight watching them bite, stab, and kill each other before exploding into piles of bloody goop. It's a bonkers, yet perfect ending.

While I think Ready or Not's critique of excessive wealth was at times superficial, the sequel deepens and sharpens the commentary, as well as the satire. This is done in tandem with a richer backstory for Grace, along with the addition of her sister, Faith. Both of them are strong final girls that ultimately best those with all the power in the world. Yes, it's just a fantasy, but it's great to watch two women who literally came from nothing defeat those who have everything.

Grace is the final girl for our times, and in the sequel, she's assisted by a little Faith.

Ready or Not 2 is currently playing in theaters. Ready or Not is available to stream on Hulu, Disney+, and Fubu TV. It's also available to rent on most major streaming platforms.

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