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allthefilmsiveseenforfree · 5 years

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Ready or Not

I’m so glad the horror-comedy is having a Moment, because it’s one of my favorite genre mashups. The heightened emotions of both flavors come together beautifully when done well, and that tasty combo is what Ready or Not is striving for. The story of Grace (Samara Weaving) and Alex (Mark O’Brien)’s wedding is an unusual one. See, Alex belongs to the Le Domas family, a wealthy clan who made their fortune in board games, and any time a new person joins the family through marriage, everyone has to play a game at midnight on the wedding night. However, if one specific game is plucked from the box of possibilities, the poor new bride or groom is the victim of a human sacrifice to keep the Le Domas family in money and dice for another generation. The things they don’t tell you before you sign a prenup, am I right? And wouldn’t you know it, Grace picks precisely the wrong game. Now it’s a race against time as she tries to hide from Alex’s family until dawn lest her “I do” turns into “I die.” Sounds pretty original and darkly funny, right? Hard to screw up a premise that solid, don’t you think? Well...

In this case a solid premise is elevated by a stellar script from Guy Busick and Ryan Murphy (I know, I was just as shocked as you are) to create of the most fun and entertaining films I’ve seen so far this year. Strong performances from a winning ensemble cast and a wicked sense of black humor makes this a hell of a time at the movies and one I can’t recommend highly enough.

Some thoughts:

Samara Weaving is Hugo Weaving’s niece and now that I know that information I can’t unsee the resemblance, particularly in the eyebrow region.

Weaving’s performance is a huge part of what makes the movie work. It’s a tightrope she has to walk and she does it so well - innocent enough that she is sympathetic but not cloying; scrappy enough that you’re rooting for her at every turn; and with a snarky streak that makes her likeable but not cold or brittle. She’s a fighter at every turn and she really goes THROUGH it, but you believe a girl like Grace would keep going and never surrender.

I sure have missed Andie MacDowell. I know she gets a lot of flak for that line in Four Weddings and a Funeral, but there was a time in the 90s when she was THE leading lady and I was very into it. She’s great matriarchal material here - I wish she had a little more to do than try to get her son to come back to the family.

And Adam Brody! Playing himself, as per usual! I confess I am still not tired of his charm and I found him and his character’s arc just the right amount of twisty-turny is he good is he bad, and I was pleased with his overall resolution. He plays world-weary-verging-on-alcoholic-to-deal-with-his-trauma much better than I expected and that boyish amiability is still in ample supply.

One thing I appreciate here is well-done exposition. Exposition is a tricky thing because when it’s done poorly it stands out like a sore thumb, but when it’s done well it’s invisible. There’s some really elegant characterization of Grace as she’s being introduced to Alex’s family - she grew up in foster homes and never had a family to call her own. It becomes clear that marrying Alex was so vitally important to her to have this sense of family and permanence. There was no other option for them to escape this family curse in Alex’s mind and he IS between a rock and a hard place.

That being said, Alex could easily have told her the truth and let her choose whether to take the risk (or whether to think he was simply crazy). He takes away her choices because he can’t lose her - it’s about what HE needs. The thoughtful choices that go into each character’s arc, particularly Grace, Alex, and Daniel, is just really smart, sharp writing and I was delighted and entertained to see it.

Same with Charity (Elyse Levesque) and her comment that she’d rather be dead than poor again. On the surface, you want to just hate her because that’s disgusting, right? But considering the way poverty ravages lives - particularly women’s - is the notion really that unreasonable? Her savage certainty when she makes the statement certainly tells you a lot about being poor in this country.

I call bullshit that Alex’s wrists aren’t tore UP. That’s an oversight in the makeup department for sure.

Aunt Helene is a stone cold bitch and I love her. Fucking SAVAGE.

The Hide and Seek song is simultaneously the most amazing and creepy thing I’ve ever heard. This is some A+ worldbuilding.

OK, Grace, you hid for like...30 seconds. I get that you don’t understand the gravity of the situation yet, but like have you ever played hide and seek. It’s not that hard. The rules are in the name of the game.

I’m not going to spoil the ending - all I will say is that it’s probably been since the first Kingsman film that I found a movie’s end so delightful in every way for wrapping up the bad guys’ plot.

Though billed as a horror movie, it’s really more suspense than scares, although it is very bloody. If you’re sensitive to that sort of thing, beware.

Did I Cry? No, but I certainly felt strongly about the characters and I was really rooting for Grace hard all the way.

This is probably going to end up in my top 10 of the year. Just really great fun with enough brains behind it to be worth remembering.

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#119in2019 #ready or not #ready or not review #horror review #samara weaving #adam brody #mark o'brien #andie macdowell #elyse levesque #movie reviews #film reviews

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