Hi everyone!
Welcome back for another Matinee Monday. The school year is back in session, which means our family goes back to our school year schedule. Spoiler alert: it’s busy! However, One Movie Spouse and I have vowed whenever possible to hit the theater with our Regal Unlimited passes every Thursday evening to take in the latest cinema. You should have seen her face as I took her to see what could easily be my favorite wedding movie of all time. Also, game night is cancelled in the Dobzynski household until further notice. For one other film that sort of fits with today’s film, thematically anyway, check out “Anna and the Apocalypse” (Episode #425), which is definitely Stephanie Campbell’s finest review for the podcast.
Before the review, we’ll have a promo from our friends at the Hattegories podcast. Every two weeks, Sam, Andy, and Rion sit down with a hat full of potential topics, then cast fate directly into the wind as they draw out a topic at random and start discussing. You can find them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @hattegories. You can also find and subscribe to their podcast at Buzzsprout or wherever you enjoy podcasts.
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Here we go!
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Today’s movie is “Ready Or Not”, from Fox Searchlight Pictures, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and written for the screen by Guy Busick and Ryan Murphy. The film follows Grace (Samara Weaving), who is marrying Daniel Le Domas (Adam Brody), an heir to the Le Domas Estate. As tradition dictates, she must play a game before being accepted into the family, and a very deadly game of hide and seek ensues.
No spoilers.
A few weeks back, One Movie Spouse was reviewing “Plus One” (Episode #573), where she revealed much to the surprise of no one that she loves wedding films. I like wedding films as well, but only when they can do or say something about weddings that hasn’t been done as the endpoint of countless romantic comedies. Now, I’m not sure you can really call today’s movie a wedding film, but it does address some of the weird social norms when someone joins another family and the wedding glow has faded, along with the particular issues when someone joins a powerful family looking to protect their interests. Very fertile ground for looking at weddings, families, traditions, and rituals
“Ready or Not” lets you know up front what kind of film it is, with a flashback to an earlier wedding, which resulted in the groom being hunted down in a similar fashion. I would pity anyone who came into this film without seeing the trailer or knowing the plot. We learn there’s not going to be mercy, and the scene becomes a lens through which we fast forward to Grace and Daniel’s wedding. A standard wedding montage follows, a carousel of heartwarming rituals meant to bring two people together, everything from pre-wedding jitters to pictures to dinner and dancing, now tinged with the sinister feel of how deadly the evening will turn.
Anyone who has joined another family will immediately identify with Grace. Everyone else around you wants to see you, and spend time with you, and all you want to do is be with the person you love. Our connection only deepens knowing what’s in store for her, and we’re already leery of Daniel who hasn’t told her anything. The magical game doesn’t always choose hide and seek, and we know this will Daniel’s first of many failures throughout the night, and the first of many more rituals which will take place throughout the rest of the film. Demonic rituals. First fights. Family intrigue. Breakups. Deaths in the family. Most of these events happen within the first year of marriage, but the viewer gets to watch them all happen in rapid fire throughout the evening while everyone plays the most dangerous game.
Samara Weaving is excellent as Grace. Playing a bride means not just looking the part, but also dominating every room and scene you’re in, which she does throughout the film. Weaving is so expressive with every scene, navigating a whole spectrum of emotions in response to each event. The innocence in her eyes transforms into pure determination over the course of the film, just as her costume changes from an unstained bridal gown into a more functional modification. Weaving’s commitment to the part provides the foundation for the audience to commit to the story they want to tell, which in the wrong hands could easily seem corny or ridiculous.
While the audience is able to commit to the story through Weaving’s performance, the film cannot always commit to a consistent tone. “Ready or Not” is billed as a horror comedy film, which is a hard genre to nail without railroading a film into pure satire. “Ready or Not”, for the most part, hits the right blend of comedy and horror. But every now and again, it leans a little too much into horror, and there are also a few attempts at genuine drama between characters, interrupting the tone and taking the audience out of the groove of an otherwise well-paced survival slasher film. Strip all that out, and lean a bit more into the comedy, and it would have held a more consistent tone throughout. It’s still an amazing script from Busick and Murphy, and still well put together by Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett. And it closes with an absolutely beautiful shot, which for spoiler purposes, I won’t reveal, but if you see the film, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
“Ready Or Not” is a fun, smart look at the rituals surrounding marriage, and the politics in joining another family, as told through a very deadly game of hide and seek. Samara Weaving dominates every scene as Grace, serving as an amazing anchor for the entire film. Horror comedy fans, along with survival horror fans, and folks who might not have the best feelings about weddings, should definitely check out this film.
Rotten Tomatoes: 87% (CERTIFIED FRESH)
Metacritic: 63
One Movie Punch: 8.6/10
“Ready Or Not” (2019) is rated R and is currently playing in theaters.
