Ready or Not

photo courtesy of variety.com

MILD SPOILERS

     In Ready or Not, Grace (Samara Weaving) marries into the fabulously wealthy Le Domas family. Unbeknownst to her, her new relatives have a fun wedding night tradition: the family gathers for a game. Sometimes it’s chess, sometimes it’s backgammon, sometimes it’s a deadly game of hide and seek in which the family spends all night trying to find and sacrifice the new bride as part of their deal with a demonic being. As Grace discovers, some games are more fun than others.

     I’m here to tell you that Ready or Not is not only clever but also hilarious and just so much fun. It’s not revolutionary or paradigm-shifting, but it distinguishes itself from your average horror flick with likeable performances, strong direction, and a smart story. For fans of black comedy and fans of horror (particularly the gratuitous-violence-and-gore brand of horror) it’ll be a must-see.

photo courtesy of uproxx.com

     The whole thing operates as a twist on the final girl trope (the tendency in slasher films to leave one final, usually virginal girl left standing). This time, although it is one girl fending for herself, she’s more or less alone from the beginning; it’s part survival movie. And after a certain point, the dynamic flips on its head and she becomes the hunter, not the hunted.

     The performances are mostly good and all enjoyable. The entire thing spins on Weaving’s performance, which is sensational. Adam Brody and Mark O’Brien have the next-biggest roles, as brothers in the Le Domas family (O’Brien being Grace’s new husband). Melanie Scrofano and Kristian Bruun provide the bulk of the comedic relief.

photo courtesy of entertainment.ie

     Beyond the surface action, Ready or Not is noteworthy for both memorable imagery and for relevant, underlying themes. The cinematographer, Brett Jutkiewicz, deserves credit for the movie’s rich visual world, and the directors, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, craft a number of striking images. Some are just great to look at (like Nicky Guadagni looming like a velociraptor with a giant axe) and others are packed with meaning. It all serves the theme, which essentially consists of a critique of the rich. Ready or Not doesn’t waste any time being subtle, but there’s some art to its layering nevertheless.

     If there’s one thing that slightly disappointed me, it’d be the movie’s ending. I can’t say too much without giving things away, so I’ll keep it to this: the movie toys with one ending for a moment… only to discard it for another. I think the previous ending made a better match for the movie’s stated purpose. But it’s not a bad ending, and it serves one crucial purpose: to give the audience a dose of the cathartic violence these kind of movies do so well.

Ready or Not is rated R for violence, bloody images, language throughout, and some drug use.

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