The Ring Two (2005) is a supernatural horror film directed by Hideo Nakata and written by Ehren Kruger. It is the second film in the American Ring series, which is based on Koji Suzuki‘s 1991 novel. Nakata, the director of the Japanese original Ringu (1998), took over from Gore Verbinski. Naomi Watts and David Dorfman return as Rachel Keller and her son Aidan. Six months after The Ring (2002), they have moved to Astoria, Oregon, to escape the cursed videotape. Now Samara Morgan is no longer satisfied with killing viewers: she wants a body, and a mother. Simon Baker, Elizabeth Perkins and Sissy Spacek join the cast. Mary Elizabeth Winstead makes her feature debut. Reviews were poor, but the film opened at No. 1 and grossed over $160 million on a $50 million budget.
At a glance
| Release date | March 18, 2005 (US) |
| Director | Hideo Nakata |
| Writer | Ehren Kruger |
| Based on | Ring by Koji Suzuki |
| Starring | Naomi Watts, Simon Baker, David Dorfman, Elizabeth Perkins, Sissy Spacek |
| Runtime | 110 minutes |
| Rating | PG-13 (US), for violence/terror, disturbing images, thematic elements and some language |
| Budget | $50 million |
| Box office | $161.9–164 million (sources differ) |
| Franchise | Ring: sequel to The Ring (2002); followed by Rings (2017), which ignores it |
Plot summary
Six months after the first film and the short Rings, Samara’s tape is circulating in Astoria, Oregon. A teenager named Jake (Ryan Merriman), on his seventh day, tricks a classmate (Emily VanCamp) into watching it to save himself. But she keeps her eyes closed, and Samara kills him. Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts), now working at The Daily Astorian for editor Max Rourke (Simon Baker), sees Jake’s body. Samara appears and tells Rachel she has been looking for her. Rachel finds the tape and burns it.
Aidan (David Dorfman) starts having nightmares of being dragged into a television. He develops hypothermia and bruises, and in a fairground restroom he photographs Samara in his reflection. Deer attack their car. In the bath, Samara replaces Aidan, and Max walks in to find Rachel apparently drowning her son. At the hospital, psychiatrist Emma Temple (Elizabeth Perkins) suspects Rachel of abuse. Rachel returns to Moesko Island and finds that Samara’s birth mother, Evelyn (Sissy Spacek), tried to drown her as an infant. In a psychiatric hospital, Evelyn tells Rachel to “listen to her baby.”
Spoiler section: the ending
The possessed Aidan kills Dr. Temple, and later Max is found dead in his truck. In a dream, Aidan tells Rachel she must drive Samara out. She sedates “Aidan” and holds him under the bathwater until Samara is forced out, into the television. Rachel lets herself be pulled into Samara’s black-and-white world and climbs out of the well, with Samara climbing after her. She slams the lid shut, sealing Samara inside. At the cliff where Samara’s adoptive mother died, Rachel hears Aidan’s voice. She falls into the water and wakes in the real world, reunited with him.
Production and behind the scenes
Nakata, who had directed the original Japanese Ringu, directed the sequel in place of Verbinski. That made him the director of both the Japanese original and an American sequel. Noam Murro had been involved before Nakata but left over creative differences. Kruger, who wrote the 2002 screenplay, returned as writer. His story moves the threat from the videotape itself to Samara’s attempt to possess a child. The film was shot in Astoria and in Los Angeles. Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald produced. Rick Baker provided special makeup effects. Henning Lohner and Martin Tillman scored the film, with additional music by Hans Zimmer, who had scored the first film. Kelly Stables played the evil Samara, with Daveigh Chase, the original Samara, in archive footage.
Release and reception
Originally set for November 10, 2004, the release was pushed to March 18, 2005. The film opened at No. 1 with $35.1 million from 3,332 theaters,. It made $14.8 million on its first day alone. In its second weekend it fell 61% to $13.6 million and third place, and it played in theaters for eight weekends. It earned $75.9 million in the US and Canada. Worldwide totals differ by source: The Numbers gives $161.9 million, including $86 million internationally, while other sources report $164 million.
Critics were unkind. It holds 21% on Rotten Tomatoes, whose consensus says not even Nakata “can save Ring Two from a dull screenplay full of absurdities.” Metacritic gave it 44, and CinemaScore audiences gave it a “C+.” Roger Ebert was a notable exception. He gave it two and a half stars and liked it better than the first film. He said its charm “is based on the film’s ability to make absolutely no sense, while nevertheless generating a real enough feeling of tension a good deal of the time.”
Legacy and influence
The Ring Two expanded Samara’s history. It introduced her birth mother and moved the focus from the curse to motherhood, with both Rachel and Samara’s mother driven to drown a child. It was the last American Ring film for twelve years. When the series returned with Rings (2017), it was a direct sequel to the 2002 film that ignored this one. For the Japanese sequel to Ringu, see Ring 2 (1999), and for the character across all versions, see Sadako Yamamura / Samara Morgan.
Trivia
- Gary Cole plays Martin Savide, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays the young Evelyn.
- The unrated DVD adds scenes, including Samara entering Aidan in the fairground restroom, and drops the theatrical cut’s first deer encounter at the fair.
- The unrated DVD also includes the short film Rings (2005). It replaces the power-outage scene with flickering lights and an oven fire, and changes some music cues, including Samara’s leap from the well.
- The film first came out on Blu-ray in Japan on October 26, 2012. Scream Factory’s US Blu-ray and 4K release came on March 19, 2024, as part of The Ring Collection.
- In Australia it was released as The Ring 2.
Related links
- Sadako Yamamura / Samara Morgan (character)
- Ring franchise
- Ringu (1998), Ring 2 (1999) and The Ring (2002)
- Hideo Nakata (director) and Ehren Kruger (writer)
- Naomi Watts (Rachel Keller)