Spoiler Warning: This discussion contains some spoilers. It could be an entire gag from a comedy or in-depth conversation concerning events in the second act.
"Fucking rich people."
2019's Ready or Not looked fairly bland on the surface, taking its inspiration from a game that goes as far back as the second century in hide-and-seek. However, it just seemed like a stock horror jumping off the successes of studio horrors like Escape Room, Truth or Dare, or any of those numerous soulless money pits. Thankfully, Ready or Not is a tight horror-comedy that knows when to lean into each genre successfully; it's probably the best of the hybrid genre since What We Do in the Shadows or The Dead Don't Die.
I think the best thing about Ready or Not is that the directors, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, understood what this product could be. It's not a terribly serious affair, a tone that would have been difficult to maintain given the fantasy of killer card games and Civil War weaponry. However, it also manages to take advantage of the hunter/prey dynamic that a murderous hide-and-seek concept has, punishing its main character with painful chase sequences and an assortment of body mutilations. I had an equal measure of tears-in-my-eyes laughter and squirming in my seat. It helps immensely that this isn't tied down by a harsh age restriction, not limited to a single 'fuck' or desaturating the colour from its blood. This is a full-bodied violent, and gory affair - I love it.
At the Ready or Not's centre, Samara Weaving, as Grace, is absolutely terrific. She shifts and moves through the shifting tonalities, acting as a wonderful passenger for the audience. I also think her character rarely, if ever, makes bad choices or 'horror narrative choices'. By which, I mean, she never decides to go back to a situation that she shouldn't, runs away when she should and protects herself as any normal person would in her scenario; no fear of knives or sentimentality about her wedding dress which goes through a journey of its own over the course of the film. The supporting ensemble, as this devil-worshipping, delusional family, are all equally memorable. It's really nice to see Adam Brody doing some interesting work again. Andie MacDowell goes completely against type. I loved Henry Czerny's manic defeatist patriarch who screams at paintings and stomps his feet like a toddler when a family member is shot in the head. Nicky Guadagni's Aunt Helene is creepy from the first moment you lay eyes on her, and Melanie Scrofano's coke addict failure adds quite a few comedic touches.
Ready or Not is far from perfect - it's actually quite easy to pick some holes in it, such as the entire game-board-family-monopoly haunted by the ghost of an ancient sailor feeling like quite the cover story for a deranged game of hide-and-seek. However, it gets the tone right, for the most part, finding the right combination of tense thriller elements, gory horror, and black comedy. The creative team behind this, and particularly Samara Weaving as the lead, come out on top. Memorable set pieces, another horror film that feels completely different to anything else out there right now.
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