I am going to be brutally honest here, and tell you that when I went to go see Ready or Not in theatres opening week I thought I was going to be in for a mildly amusing schlocky gory comedy, and boy was I wrong. It was absolutely nothing I expected and in the best way possible. It was charming, funny, enlightening, bloody, and packed a wicked punch. Here I was expecting a middle of the road movie, and instead I ended up with a personal favourite of excitement and entertainment.
Grace, played by the incredible Samara Weaving, is with her in-laws, family, and soon to be husband Alex played by Mark O’Brien. The family has a tradition of playing a game the night before anyone gets brought into the family, Grace is reluctant to play but goes along with it because she wants to be with Alex. However, the game has a deadly twist to it, Hide and Seek turns into a game of survival and only if she survives the night can she be properly brought into the family. When she makes this discovery and realizes that Daniel played by Adam Brody, Becky played by Andie MacDowell, Emile played by Melanie Scrofano, Tony played by Henry Czerny, and Helene played by Nicky Guadagni. As the plot progresses, if the game isn’t won there are rumoured deadly consequences, who is going to win this dangerous game of cat and mouse.
What works incredibly within Ready or Not is that it takes all predetermined thoughts and ideas about what the audience is going to get and totally flips it on its head. The idea that Ready or Not slowly becomes a Kill Bill style revenge action thriller is not at all what was expected but is more than pleasantly welcomed. The directing duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett with the writing duo of Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy truly bring everything together to make Ready or Not one of the most fun, engaging, and intriguing movies that one could watch.
As well, the cast brings everything to the table, and truly packs everything someone could want from a film. Samara Weaving proves that she can essentially have chemistry with literally anyone, and demonstrates that perfectly in the film. She excels in her role and delivers absolute bad-assery to the absolute max. Mark O’Brien, Adam Brody, Andie MacDowell, Melanie Scrofano, Henry Czerny and Nicky Guadagni all deliver incredible performance that tie this movie perfectly together. Strap yourself in if this is your first watch for one bloody good time.
