Movie Review: Ready or Not Is A Depraved Blast

Read Time:2 Minute, 26 Second

Ready or Not is a rollicking adventure that marries The Purge and Bridesmaids when a newlywed finds herself the unlucky target in a deadly game of hide and seek. This flick is a riot of horror with enough humor for each drop of spilled blood to make the audience, of which I was a member, laugh out loud. In addition, and adding to the humor, there are more well-placed expletives than a Gordon Ramsay production, each laden with a chuckle and a grin.

It’s a depraved blast watching a comic takedown of the uber-rich, and it’s done with the rude energy of a horror thriller and the courage of its own manic anti-marriage convictions. Directed with fierce flair by part of the fright collective Radio Silence Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, from a game-on script by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy, the wow factor of Ready or Not helps you jump the hurdles of any plot predictability.

A gorgeous Grace, brilliantly portrayed by Samara Weaving, is the hapless product of a have-not foster family who marries into the poisonously wealthy Le Domas clan, who made their fortune manufacturing board games.

After her lavish wedding to son and brother Alex, aptly portrayed by Mark O’Brien, his family, looking like fugitives from the Addams Family, fill her in on the family’s wedding night tradition: she must play a game, to be chosen at random from a deck of options.

Grace was told other brides and grooms have drawn a harmless round of Go Fish or Old Maid from a mysterious box with some curious history. Poor Grace, however, pulls the card for Hide and Seek — a nasty version in which you can be killed if you can’t evade your stalkers before sunrise. Yep! It’s Bridesmaids meets The Purge.

Desperate Grace, still in the pristine wedding dress soon to be drenched in blood, tries to avoid the murderous relatives’ daddy Henry Czerny’s Monsieur Le Domas, who he has armed with historic weapons of bride destruction, from a crossbow to a medieval axe, not to mention numerous firearms. Bridegroom Alex, naturally, wants no part of this macabre initiation, but his mom (Andie MacDowell), boozy brother (Adam Brody) and crazy Aunt Helene, played by the terrific Nicky Guadagni, have fewer reservations.

It all goes from bloody hilarious to just bloody. What’s unexpected is the subversive wit that turns Ready or Not into a satiric sneak attack on the very institution of marriage. As the bodies pile up, the movie scores points for underlining the crimes committed in the name of family ties and wedded bliss. The ending may leaps into the wild blue of the wildly unreasonable, but it’s literally killer fun getting there. This 95 minute gem is four-star fun. Enjoy!

In case you missed it: Movie Review: 47 Meters Down—Uncaged

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Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.

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