Ready Or Not Review
R: Violence, bloody images, language throughout, and some drug use
Studios: Fox Searchlight Pictures, Mythology Entertainment, Vinson Films
Run Time: 1 Hour and 36 Minutes
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett | Screenwriters: Guy Busick, R. Christopher Murphy
Cast: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O'Brien, Henry Czerny, Andie MacDowell
Ready or Not follows Grace, a young bride who joins her new husband Alex Le Domas and his rich, eccentric family in a game of hide-and-seek, where her in-laws attempt to find her before dawn. When she realizes that the Le Domas family intends to hunt and kill her, she turns the one-sided hunt into a free-for-all, with everyone fighting for their survival. As Alex goes against his family to help her, Grace discovers that the night is part of a diabolical ritual.
Here comes the bride. All dressed in white. Got to play her in-laws’ demonic game to survive. Here comes the bride. Trying to survive… You get the gist. Ready or Not is the new feature from horror team Radio Silence, transitioning from experimental anthropology horror (V/H/S) to conventional found footage horror (Devil’s Due), and now horror comedy. It’s safe to say that Ready or Not is Radio Silence’s best feature to date.
An orphan named Grace is wed into a rich family that specializes in board gaming. Initially, their scorning and menacing characteristics intimidate her, but Grace is eager nonetheless to join a family to call home. But there is one little catch, for every family has their traditions. The Le Domas follow their own sacred one where whenever a new member is married into the family, they must play a game. Grace pulls out the red card from a deck, so the family has to play hide and seek. The family isn’t particularly upfront about the rules of the game as they all try to hunt her down so they can perform a satanic ritual, leaving Grace to fend for herself.
Let it be known: I’m not a huge horror fanatic, but one of my favorite subcategories is comedy. With horror comedies, you can be as unapologetically twisted and deranged as you want. Ready or Not has fun with its twisted premise. From the very beginning, the film establishes a violent backbone with a comedic edge. Both horror and comedic elements are meticulously balanced out where the gore plays as a means to lay out the stakes, but also as a punchline for running gags focusing on the dysfunctionality of the Le Domas family. When someone gets wrecked it’s grisly, brutal, and sometimes accidental, making you both uneasy and amused at the same time.
While Grace is the protagonist you root for to survive, the members of the Le Domas family are often the ones who steal the show with their exaggerated, over-the-top, and bizarre personalities. The best way to describe the Le Domas is to imagine the Bluth family but as Satanists and more bloodthirsty. Their entire dynamic and how they’re just so uncoordinated is one of the fun elements that keeps the story moving at a fast pace, keeping you invested the entire time. Also, not everyone is pure evil; some have conflicting moralities that cause a bit of discord. Adam Brody’s character is the primary example of this where he doesn’t condone his family’s tradition but must participate anyway given the stakes at hand. Throughout the film he has the conflicting complex of someone like Loki where he has heroic moments but will still screw you over for his own benefit. Then, you have members who are drugged up, unbridled messes who screw everything up for everyone. Wynonna Earp— I mean, Melanie Scrofano is the comic MVP of the film, for her character is a danger to everything. She had me cracking up every time she was on screen.
In the center of it all is Samara Weaving who delivers a great performance as Grace, the heroine who does her very best to survive. Weaving portrays the realistic terror well, from heavy breathing to releasing her state of fear and frustration of having to deal with this scenario involving a fucked up family. The more you learn about Grace — the small details of her upbringing — the more you root for her to win.
If you’re into deranged dark horror comedies, Ready or Not is the perfect film for you. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet do a fantastic job exhibiting their unique comedic creativity in their stylish way. For such a funny display, the film features a darkly lit cinematography, giving the grim atmosphere an intimidating flair where anything can happen. The script by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy is full of witty diabolical humor and enough character details for each beat of the narrative, even down to a character’s change of heart being perfectly understood. It’s written so damn well that I’m yearning to see it again. It has its flaws for sure, such as an ongoing repetitive pursuit between Grace and a butler that never ends once it begins, but for the most part Ready or Not achieves at being a thrilling game to watch.
Meticulously balanced in both horror and comedy, Ready or Not is a twistedly fun thrill ride that’s as funny as it is gory.
Rating: 4/5 | 81%
