Ring 2

I watched Ring 2 and it picks up right after the first film, trying to explain what happened to the survivors of Sadako’s curse. This time the story follows Mai Takano, the assistant of the late professor Ryuji. She starts investigating the mysterious videotape and the strange deaths around it, working with a journalist named Okazaki who once worked with Reiko from the first film. As they dig deeper, they meet Reiko’s son Yoichi, who now seems to have psychic powers connected to Sadako’s spirit.

The movie tries to expand the original story while keeping the same tone. It has that quiet tension and gloomy atmosphere that made Ring so haunting, but this time it feels more complicated and scattered. There are many characters, and the story jumps from one strange event to another. A haunted mental hospital, experiments trying to capture Sadako’s ghost with science.

Some scenes are confusing, but they also make the film feel unpredictable. One of the most striking moments shows Sadako’s coffin being lifted from a pool, followed by an eerie sequence inside her old well. These moments remind you how good the series can be at mixing mystery with terror.

What works best is the mood. Director Hideo Nakata builds slow, creeping fear instead of relying on loud shocks. The scene where a teenager admits she watched the tape and begs the journalist to do the same is simple but chilling. The sense of doom never goes away, even when the plot feels tangled. Sadako herself loses some of her power this time though. Showing her too clearly, especially her face, takes away part of her mystery.

The acting is solid. Miki Nakatani as Mai gives the film an emotional core. Her performance keeps the story grounded even when it becomes strange or hard to follow. The rest of the cast, including the boy playing Yoichi, also manage to hold attention, though the script doesn’t give them much time to develop.

In the end, Ring 2 feels like an uneven but still haunting continuation. It doesn’t reach the eerie perfection of the first film, and its story is more confusing than it needs to be. But it still has moments of genuine fear and sadness, especially in the final scenes inside the well. It’s a sequel that keeps the spirit of Ring alive, even if it doesn’t fully understand how to make it as terrifying again.