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Ready or Not – Film Review

Cast: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O’Brien, Henry Czerny, Andie MacDowell, Nicky Guadagni, Kristian Bruun, Elyse Levesque, John Ralston

Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Synopsis: As she marries into a wealthy family that owns a considerable empire built upon board games, a bride’s wedding night turns violent when she’s forced into a deadly game of hide and seek…

Review: When you think of a wedding, you picture them to be joyful, happy occasions filled with family, drinks and memories that will last a lifetime. Or, that’s at least how they usually go. However, for anyone marrying into a family that has a vast and considerable empire built upon board games, their wedding night will not involve a disco, lots of drinks and some joyous music. Instead, it will involve a game, a game of the considerably more bloody variety that pits everyone in a brutal battle for survival.

Grace (Weaving) is excited to finally be marrying into the Le Domas family as she ties the knot with her fiance Alex (O’Brien). Once the ceremony is concluded, Grace is invited by her new relatives to take part in a game that the Le Domas clan do every time someone new enters the family. When Grace chooses the “hide and seek” card, she initially believes that they will be playing a typical, innocent game of hide and seek. However, she soon realises that it it is anything but, as due to a curse that they believe an ancestor has placed on them, her crazed new relatives believe they must kill Grace, before the next morning, at all costs.

With such an absurd, and just completely bonkers premise, had the film taken a more serious approach it with itstone, it likely would have fallen flat on its face. However, the film knows what it is, and it uses the absurdity of that premise to its advantage. Writers Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy use this ludicrous premise, and transform it from your typical run-of-the-mill horror/slasher film, into a batshit, and brilliantly entertaining horror that expertly manages the balance between the comedic and horror elements of the story. It is made all the better by peppering brilliant moments of dark humour throughout, whilst significantly turning up the dial on some very over-the-top violence.

As the woman who’s forced into this deadly fight for survival, Samara Weaving, having had the smallest of roles in Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, gives a spectacular, memorable breakthrough performance. Right from the moment you meet her, she’s an immensely likeable protagonist, and you will her to find the courage and resourcefulness to escape this dangerous life or death situation, that she finds herself in. The main source of comedy largely comes from the Le Domas clan, who clearly have no idea how to handle the rather antiquated weapons they’re using to try and eliminate Grace, which leads to some spectacularly entertaining moments.

Boasting some excellent production design, and likewise with the costumes, most notably Grace’s wedding dress, that goes through just a few wears and tears as the night wears on. While it almost never fails to be entertaining throughout its 95 minute run time, it does get to a point where the violence becomes so over the top and ridiculous, that the comedic aspect of it does begin to wear off a little bit. Touching upon themes of marriage, family, and a bitter class divide, the scope was there for these to be explored a little more. Though, it may make someone think twice before agreeing to marry into an eccentric and wealthy family in the future.