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Weddings are a common topic in movies. So many movies feature a beautiful bride walking down the aisle while family and friends look on, happy to support the new couple on their romantic journey. But the quirky thriller Ready or Not is far from the same old movie about blushing brides and nervous grooms.
Ready or Not stars Samara Weaving as Grace, the beautiful bride. Though she’s nervous to marry into a big, intimidating, and fabulously rich family, she’s excited to marry Alex (Mark O’Brien). Shortly after the wedding ends, though, she discovers that before she can be welcomed into the family, she has to meet with the family at midnight to play a game. For most, it’s something simple: checkers or Old Maid. But when Grace draws the card that announces a game of hide and seek, she ends up racing through the estate, fighting for her life.
What follows is a brutal and often gruesome free-for-all, as the wildly eccentric members of the Le Domas family arm themselves for battle in order to follow through on their end of a deadly deal that was made generations ago. But while it would be easy to turn this story of dark secrets and devilish pacts into something oppressively heavy, nothing about Ready or Not is taken too seriously—from the characters to the bloody violence. The story is completely over-the-top, and the one-liners are perfectly placed to keep audiences chuckling through the sometimes intense action and tension.
The characters, too, are anything but serious. The members of the Le Domas family may be rich beyond your wildest dreams, but their wealth, it turns out, comes at a price. They’re spoiled and selfish and completely ruthless—and almost all of them are ready and willing to kill to protect themselves and their fortune. They definitely have their quirks—from the lazy and dim-witted brother-in-law (Kristian Bruun) to the coked-up sister (Melanie Scrofano) to the brother who’s tired of it all (Adam Brody). And as Grace toughens up to fight back, you’ll cringe, you’ll laugh, and you’ll cheer her on.
Admittedly, though, Grace’s battle is so extensive, so meandering, and so brutal that it seems to continue much longer than the film’s short runtime. So when it ends, you’ll feel like you’ve been on the run with her.
Ready or Not definitely isn’t for everyone. It’s vicious and violent and generally disturbing. But if you’ve got a strong stomach and a dark sense of humor, you’ll enjoy following the nighttime adventures of these unbalanced in-laws.
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