READY OR NOT - Dir. Matt Bettinelli Olpin & Tyler Gillett
On her wedding day, Grace (Samara Weaving) is still unsure what to make of her soon-to-be in-laws, despite her unwavering commitment to her fiancé Alex (Mark O’Brien). After the ceremony, Grace is told that for her to be truly accepted into her new family, she must play a game. The game she unwittingly chooses is hide and seek, but the variation of the game played by the Le Domas family has an unhealthy finality to it.
Adam Brody and Andie MacDowell feature among a cast of just about familiar, and mostly Canadian, faces. The characters aren’t overly complex (and nor should they be) but their traits are well defined and well exploited throughout the film. Standout support comes from the silver haired Aunt Helene (Nicky Guadagni), whose glare is mined for laughs and yet still unnerves too.
That’s ultimately what the Ready or Not is: laughs amid the tension of a very dangerous game. Samara Weaving has to shoulder the bulk of switching between the lighter and darker moments. She impressively imbues her character with a cutting wit but also the gritty determination to win the game as Grace uncovers the secrets behind the occult ritual that she has stumbled into on her wedding night.
The film is smart enough to both send up genre tropes and trappings while wholeheartedly embracing them at the same time. The conjurings and ceremonies in the film have a notably hircine quality to them, but it really doesn’t matter. The different members of the Le Domas family don’t all hold an unwavering belief in the family tradition and the spirited interfamilial bickering produces some of the film’s biggest laughs.
The film’s satirising of the rich isn’t particularly pointed or insightful; it’s more poking fun at wealthy aristocracy and their ostensibly absurd traditions, rather than wholeheartedly ripping them to shreds. However, Ready or Not does skilfully maintain its tricky tonal mix of laughs and winces. It runs through its breezy run time at a fast but not hurried pace. Even the ending, which could be seen to undermine the essence of the film’s satirical streak, is audacious enough to work as a final kicker to the violent proceedings.
It’s never particularly scary but it’s gory enough to earn its 18 certificate. The gore is schlocky and fun in the film’s more blackly comedic moments, but it is crucially shocking and wince inducing when it needs to be. As Grace is put through her paces, her injuries look and feel painful, which helps maintain a sense of peril amid the more preposterous turns of the story. There's a passing reference to Agatha Christie and while the set-up is ripe for one of the English writer’s twisting narratives, Ready or Not perhaps lacking a mid-film twist that feels like it's just around the corner, particularly when Stevens (John Ralston), the family’s butler, is drawn into the proceedings.
Ultimately, the film’s tonal consistency and its sprightly pacing help to ensure that Ready or Not is a game worth playing.
(The Red Band trailer below is somewhat spoiler-y)
READY OR NOT is due for release in UK cinemas on 27th September 2019.
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Adam Brody and Andie MacDowell feature among a cast of just about familiar, and mostly Canadian, faces. The characters aren’t overly complex (and nor should they be) but their traits are well defined and well exploited throughout the film. Standout support comes from the silver haired Aunt Helene (Nicky Guadagni), whose glare is mined for laughs and yet still unnerves too.
That’s ultimately what the Ready or Not is: laughs amid the tension of a very dangerous game. Samara Weaving has to shoulder the bulk of switching between the lighter and darker moments. She impressively imbues her character with a cutting wit but also the gritty determination to win the game as Grace uncovers the secrets behind the occult ritual that she has stumbled into on her wedding night.
The film is smart enough to both send up genre tropes and trappings while wholeheartedly embracing them at the same time. The conjurings and ceremonies in the film have a notably hircine quality to them, but it really doesn’t matter. The different members of the Le Domas family don’t all hold an unwavering belief in the family tradition and the spirited interfamilial bickering produces some of the film’s biggest laughs.
The film’s satirising of the rich isn’t particularly pointed or insightful; it’s more poking fun at wealthy aristocracy and their ostensibly absurd traditions, rather than wholeheartedly ripping them to shreds. However, Ready or Not does skilfully maintain its tricky tonal mix of laughs and winces. It runs through its breezy run time at a fast but not hurried pace. Even the ending, which could be seen to undermine the essence of the film’s satirical streak, is audacious enough to work as a final kicker to the violent proceedings.
It’s never particularly scary but it’s gory enough to earn its 18 certificate. The gore is schlocky and fun in the film’s more blackly comedic moments, but it is crucially shocking and wince inducing when it needs to be. As Grace is put through her paces, her injuries look and feel painful, which helps maintain a sense of peril amid the more preposterous turns of the story. There's a passing reference to Agatha Christie and while the set-up is ripe for one of the English writer’s twisting narratives, Ready or Not perhaps lacking a mid-film twist that feels like it's just around the corner, particularly when Stevens (John Ralston), the family’s butler, is drawn into the proceedings.
Ultimately, the film’s tonal consistency and its sprightly pacing help to ensure that Ready or Not is a game worth playing.
(The Red Band trailer below is somewhat spoiler-y)
READY OR NOT is due for release in UK cinemas on 27th September 2019.
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