All the cast of the movie holding various weaponry; the bride in the middle wearing a bandolier of shotgun cartridges.

About:

Title: Ready or Not
Released: 2019

Fix: Dark Comedy, Horror, The Fun Of Knives Out But With More Violence, Mansion Porn, Adam Brody, Thank God My In-Laws Are Not This Bad
Platform: AppleTV (Rent)

Official Summary:

A bride’s wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game.

FYA Summary:

(Okay, so the movie’s premise sounds super silly, and I went into it fully expecting it to be really dumb, but, to my husband’s and my surprise, we had a blast watching it.)

Grace is marrying into a wealthy family who made their riches off manufacturing playing cards, board games, sporting equipment, and the like since the early 1800s. So it’s not weird when, after the reception is over, the extended family brings her to their over-the-top “game room” in the family mansion and tells her it’s tradition for the newest member of the family to be officially inducted in by playing a game. Past games include things like chess and old maid. Grace’s game? That beloved childhood classic: hide and seek.

Except I don’t recall my childhood version of the game including shotguns. And axes. And crossbows. If Grace can stay hidden—and alive—until sun-up, she wins. If not…

Familiar Faces:

Samara Weaving as Grace

I haven’t seen anything else Samara has been in, but if any Aussie readers are Home and Away fans then they’ll likely know her face. She is so great as Grace, an orphan who starts off quietly excited to finally have a family and then quickly finds herself in the middle of a nightmare. She has an energy you can’t help but want to watch and a face reminiscent of Margot Robbie or Emma Mackey.

Adam Brody as Daniel

When he popped up as Grace’s new brother-in-law, you know I yelled at my TV, “What are you doing here, Seth!?” I love a random Adam Brody sighting! Daniel might be the one Le Domas who isn’t a total heel. He also gets to say lines like, “Don’t take it personally, they’re just trying to figure out if you’re a gold-digging whore…like my wife.” and in response to said wife saying that Grace would never be one of them: “Of course not, dear. She has a soul.”

Mark O’Brien as Alex

Apparently this is the SECOND movie Mark has been in that has a children’s game-related title (he was in something called, You’re It). I’ve seen him in a few other things but until I looked at IMBD I would’ve never been able to tell you that, so I guess his face is kind of forgettable? (I say this with the authority of someone who just asked her mom, who was watching a Hallmark Murder Mystery earlier today, if that dude getting arrested on-screen used to be in Days of Our Lives and it was a yes. I last watched that soap opera when I was TEN years old. I’m excellent at celebrity trivia night.) Anyway, Alex is Grace’s new husband, and I’d like to get her the number of a good divorce lawyer.

Andie MacDowell as Becky

You know who Andie is. She does a wonderful job playing Grace’s new mother-in-law, who warmly welcomes Grace to the family and seems to—only slightly—regret accepting the bow and arrow from her husband with which she will use to hunt Grace down.

Kristian Bruun as Fitch

I immediately knew I disliked Fitch’s smug face, and it’s because he’s crap-husband, Donnie, from Orphan Black. He plays to type here as Fitch, crap-husband and bumbling idiot who married into the Le Domas family and loves the money.

Henry Czerny as Tony

You’ve seen Henry in, like, everything. I do not recall him in ANY of the Mission Impossible movies but IMDB informs he IS in them, but that’s okay because I literally remember nothing except Tom Cruise is in them and likes ripping his face off to an alarming degree. Henry plays Tony, the head of the Le Domas family and he’s a real…peach.

Couch-Sharing Capability: High

Obvi the people you choose to invite to share your couch and watch this should be able to stomach dark comedies and horror movies that contain some gore and swearing. It’s not…gory like a chainsaw-axe-murderer bad, but there’s some blood sprays, and this one moment where someone is climbing up a ladder from the goat pit and there’s an exposed nail at the top and…I think you can see where this is going. I promise you totally have time to look away. ASIDE from that, you’ll want someone else around to talk about how bonkers-fun this movie is, because it’s got some great situational, laugh-out-loud comedy.

Recommended Level of Inebriation: Champers

It’s a rich-people wedding; there should be fancy champagne—and lots of it!—for all! Also, when the game begins they put on this SO EFFING CREEPY sounding child’s sing-a-long song about running and hiding and it’s a great time to let the bubbles of the champers tickle your nose to distract you from the shivers running down your back.

Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Excellent

More than just a slasher film, this movie has some scathing commentary on the 1% and generational wealth and privilege. I won’t spoil the ending, but it was pretty damn perfect. Even the cover of “Love Me Tender” running over the credits hits all the right notes. We watched on a whim during the pandemic and have since persuaded other like-minded friends to watch with us. Save it for Halloween or when you just need a good “eff the world” movie.

Stephanie (she/her) is an avid reader who moonlights at a college and calls Orlando home. Stephanie loves watching television, reading DIY blogs, planning awesome parties, Halloween decorating, and playing live-action escape games.