Ready or Not (2019) Review

Don’t you just love it when your streaming service adds a film to its roster that you’ve had on your watch list for ages? After missing it the first few times round, I finally saw Ready or Not, directed by Radio Silence duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. It was everything I hoped for – a gory, gothic fable that skewers the rich, quite literally, while delivering one of the most entertaining horror-comedies in recent memory.

Grace (Samara Weaving, in a star-making turn) marries into the Le Domas family, whose fortune comes from a board game empire and whose traditions are, shall we say, unconventional. On her wedding night, she draws the unlucky “Hide and Seek” card from an old box, initiating part of a time-honoured ritual that turns into a deadly manhunt across the family’s sprawling, secret-riddled estate. The rules? Survive until dawn. The stakes? Her life, and possibly her soul.

There’s more than a touch of The Most Dangerous Game here, with shades of Get Out, Clue, and even Kill Bill stitched into its blood-soaked wedding gown. But Ready or Not carves its own path, thanks in large part to Weaving, whose performance oscillates between frantic panic, darkly comic exasperation, and righteous fury. She screams, swears, punches a child in the face, and crawls through hell in heels and a tattered dress, and you root for her every glorious second.

The cast of grotesques, including a deadpan Adam Brody, a deranged Nicky Guadagni, and a gun-wielding Andie MacDowell are note-perfect as the monstrous in-laws. Their attempts to kill Grace are as bungled as they are brutal, the film wringing big laughs out of crossbow misfires and Satanic rituals gone wrong. But beneath the slapstick violence is a razor-sharp class commentary. These aren’t just mad aristocrats, they’re a family so insulated by privilege and tradition that they’ll literally murder to keep it.

It’s also a handsome film. The production design is lush, evoking a twisted fairy tale mansion filled with hunting trophies, secret passages, and candlelit opulence. Cinematographer Brett Jutkiewicz bathes everything in golden tones that contrast beautifully with the splashes of arterial red. The editing is tight, the pacing relentless, and the climactic payoff – no spoilers – is one of the most jaw-droppingly satisfying final scenes in recent horror. Oh, and Weaving’s unique, blood-curdling scream (which is part shrill shriek, part yodel) is something else too.

Yes, there are nitpicks. Mark O’Brien’s Alex, the groom torn between love and loyalty, feels a bit underwritten, and some of the film’s mythology is better left unexamined. But when a film is this much fun, you’re more than happy to go along for the ride.

Ready or Not is savage, stylish, and surprisingly smart. It’s a twisted game of survival that plays like Bridesmaids meets The Wicker Man, with a sprinkle of Infinity Pool. And in Grace, horror found its blood-splattered bride of 2019, who is set to return to our screens in a sequel slated for some time in the not-too-distant future. We can’t wait.

Movie Rating:

Ready or Not trailer