Ready or Not (2019) Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillet Starring: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody,Mark O'Brien, Henry Czerny Genres: Horror, Comedy (courtesy IMDb), Thriller IMDb Synopsis: "A bride's wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game." |
That’s one hell of a premise.
Ready or Not is a lot of fun. Once you mentally navigate the contrivances needed to effectively set up this premise, there’s oodles of enjoyment to be had here. Several abrupt, uber-violent deaths, mostly played for laughs, and some fantastic running gags keep the momentum going. Crossbows, cocaine, and crucifiction - with one inventively-used dumbwaiter.
The two brothers, Daniel and Alex, are also superb. There are twists with their characters that I won’t spoil here, but they’re developed and alluded to over the runtime, and their decisions make sense for two men who were raised and indoctrinated into this evil, Satanic family - there’s a tinge of Stockholm syndrome to their characters that worked for me. The supporting characters are all great too, whether it’s a vengeful butler with an affinity for classical music, a coked-out niece who can’t help but fuck up, or a delightfully hapless in-law who just can’t figure out how to work a damn crossbow.
Ready or Not does try to reach for a couple loftier themes, with lots of lip service paid to the ideas of classism, elitism, and the folly of “old money.” For the most part, though, the film is more interested in just providing the blood and guts and giggles that audiences are there for. There are some good themes about the anxiety of joining/finding a new family, which many people can relate to, but again, this mostly takes a backseat to the carnage on display.
Ready or Not succeeds because it’s a movie that knows exactly what it’s meant to be. It doesn’t try to do too much, no new cinematic ground is broken here, but it delivers on it’s delightfully screwed-up premise in an entirely entertaining way. For that reason it seems fitting to award the film with what I’ve come to realize is my default “good-not-great” score:
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Ready or Not IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt7798634/
In-laws image: pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/ready-or-not-2.jpg?w=1000
Samara Weaving image:
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