Ready or Not (2019)
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Ready or Not Movie Review
Ready or Not is a 2019 horror comedy film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and starring Samara Weaving. It’s a hugely entertaining flick.
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“Jesus Christ, what happened to you?
In-laws“
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Grace couldn’t be happier after she marries the man of her dreams at his family’s luxurious estate. There’s just one catch – she must now hide from midnight until dawn while her new in-laws hunt her down with guns, crossbows and other weapons. As Grace desperately tries to survive the night, she soon finds a way to turn the tables on her not-so-lovable relatives.
Yes, this premise is so crazy and so original that it ultimately really works. It led to an authentic, but fun genre flick which is consistently inventive, engaging and simply very enjoyable across the board. The plot can be problematic, the ending is hilarious but also admittedly very silly, and the movie is very simplistic and on-the-nose in its handling of class differences. But still, I loved how they portrayed the rich here, and how it serves as a great metaphor in a way for the games of the rich and how bored they are in their comfortable lives.
The movie is a horror/thriller flick which succeeds in its various set pieces, and some quite intense sequences that were incredibly well executed in every way. I personally loved the scenes where she hid just besides her stalkers, and especially the scenes where she learned their backstory by overhearing their conversations really reminded me of a good genre book.
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But there is one big reason why Ready or Not is so great, and so much better than many of similar flicks. And that is its humor. Yes, this is also a comedy along with being a horror film, and unlike so many horror comedies out there, this one is actually funny, and downright hilarious at times. Some of the killings were so funny how stupid they were, and many one-liners here are incredibly amusing. That one last line was absolutely hilarious, and it was a perfect way to end the film in my opinion.
I also really liked the film’s lesser-known for the most part, but still competent cast. Andie MacDowell is very memorable as the mother, and I really liked Daniel as the most likable character of the bunch. And Alex the boyfriend is very unpredictable in his shifting sides, and ultimately I loved that they chose to also include him among his crazy family in his awful choices. That was unexpected and it really worked.
But Samara Weaving as Grace is a revelation. It’s crazy how she looks almost exactly like Margot Robbie, and even more sad as she now would get less roles because of that. But she is a talent to watch as her performance here is absolutely terrific, very believable and she made her character seem both badass, but also realistic. You empathize and root for her, and especially her maniacal laughter near the end stole the show for me.
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Ready or Not is also interesting for having such an elegant, centuries-old house as its setting. The mix of modern and classical really led to an authentic atmosphere while the sound, score and action sequences are all very good. The dialogue can be aggressively obvious, but it mostly worked for me. It can be a silly film, but it’s impressively fun undoubtedly.
Ready or Not can be silly and very on-the-nose in the handling of its themes, but it is a hugely original movie in its crazy, authentic premise so well executed in terms of action, set pieces and also humor. Yes, the film is intense, but also very funny, and downright hilarious in some terrific one-liners. Samara Weaving is a revelation in such a badass role. Ultimately, it’s one of the year’s most purely entertaining, incredibly enjoyable movies.
