Sarah Conley
Dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Starring: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O’Brien, Andie MacDowell
Absurd, deranged, and so much bloody fun.
Tons of people have a rocky relationship with their in-laws, and that’s what Grace (Samara Weaving) is facing when she marries Daniel in Ready or Not, a black comedy that shines a stark light on the callousness of wealth. This movie takes the old trope of eccentric in-laws and asks, “What if they’re not just weird? What if the skeletons in this family’s closet are literal skeletons?” Ready or Not tackles these questions and responds in the best possible way by embracing its absurdity, and taking the audience on a wicked ride of dark humor with plenty of twists.
In Ready or Not, Grace is played by Samara Weaving, who is starting to make quite a name for herself on the horror scene. In 2017 alone, she starred in Netflix’s original horror comedy The Babysitter,and she costarred alongside The Walking Dead‘s Steven Yeun in Amazon Prime’s Mayhem. From the beginning, Weaving has delivered quality performances with convincing emotions and great comedic timing, and in this summer’s Ready, she does not disappoint.
Weaving’s character has just married into the disgustingly wealthy Le Domas family, whose legacy is a line of old fashioned card and board games. On her wedding night, Grace’s new husband reveals that as a way of welcoming her to the family, it’s a long-standing tradition to play a game at the stroke of midnight. Willing to play along to keep in her new in-laws’ good graces (har har), she never expected to sign up for an absolutely killer game of hide-and-seek (somebody stop me). The rest of the night is a fight for her life to survive until dawn.
The motivation of the Le Domas family as a whole is part of what makes Ready or Not so ridiculous, and without getting spoilery, it has been done before. Just never quite this smartly, or hilariously. Besides the smart writing, the characterization in this film is what really stands it apart from others in the genre. The Le Domas family isn’t just some giant globule of characteristics from which all the members extend when they need to. Each family member is their own character, and feels like a real person with their own motivations. The mother, played by Andie MacDowell, is a strong matriarch without becoming a mama bear cliche. Daniel’s older brother Alex (Mark O’Brien) is possibly the best character of them all, ravaged deep with flaws borne of growing up as the oldest son in such a twisted family. Alex is also the funniest part of the whole movie, often providing levity to keep the rest of the film from taking itself too seriously.
But the real star of the film is still Weaving’s character, Grace herself, who proves to be one hell of a survivor. She’s vulnerable, and her struggle to believe what is happening to her is believable. But she’s also smart, tough, and determined, and you never stop rooting for her. All the best qualities of a Final Girl.
One reason Ready or Not really succeeds is that it seamlessly combines the most important element in both the horror and comedy genres: timing. Jokes never fall flat, and tension is always rewarded at the perfect moment. It also never gets preachy. It takes the legitimate issue of corruption in wealth, greed, and power and handles it with such deranged glee that you cannot help but love it. This film picked its target, called its shot, and it hit exactly what it was aiming for, both in subject and in execution. 10/10, would recommend.
