Horror fans may be flocking to screenings of “It: Chapter 2” right now, but don’t sleep on the bloody horror comedy “Ready or Not.”
The flick stars Samara Weaving as Grace, a humble and witty ex-foster kid who marries into Le Domas board game empire by way of Alex (Mark O’Brien). On their wedding day, we learn the Le Domas family is a cast of characters. Amongst the large family, there’s Alex’s drunk and snarky brother Daniel (Adam Brody), his mother (Andie MacDowell), desperate for Alex to return home, and Aunt Helene (Nicky Guadagni), whose cold stare could freeze over hell.
Grace learns that it is tradition for the entire family to play a game on the night of a Le Domas family wedding. She randomly selects a card that will inform the family what they are playing — hide and seek. The rest of the family goes so silent while Grace innocently wonders what can be so bad about a round of hide and seek. Well, it turns out this is not your average game of hide and seek. The family hunts Grace a lá “The Most Dangerous Game.” Grace must stay alive until dawn using her wits and the hidden secrets of the massive Le Domas manor.
This movie is just as bonkers as the premise makes it sound. The story has brief moments where it slogs along, but overall it is a wild ride from start to finish. “Ready Or Not” is a self-aware movie that does not take itself seriously in the slightest. The cast clearly has a blast with this movie. Hollywood provides very few other opportunities to spout off cheesy lines while toting a vintage weapon.
Our leading lady runs away with this movie. It is her show. Grace is not your average damsel in distress here — there is nothing delicate about her performance here. Although she may be pretty in white, she is a chain-smoking, cussing, guttural screaming, badass. Weaving is no stranger to this B-movie style of horror at all. Between this and 2017’s “The Babysitter,” Weaving is becoming a modern day scream queen. While she leaves the rest of the cast in her dust, an honorable mention goes out to Brody’s performance. Weaving carries the action with her performance, Brody brings the perfect level of snark and a surprising amount of heart to his role.
“Ready Or Not” doesn’t deliver many legitimate scares, but it’s a bloody fun ride that will leave you entertained the whole way through — the reveal in the final act might just put the sheer insanity of “Cabin in the Woods’” ending to shame.
