Ready Or Not

Your wedding day is probably the most important day of your life. Finally, you’re getting married to the love of your life, but sadly also to your in-laws who come along with that.

We’re sure that you all have lovely in-laws but we can’t say the same for Grace. It was only after marrying Alex that she discovered how distorted her new family was. The result? A twisted game of hide and seek in the nail-biting, funny and dark “Ready Or Not”, the newest film from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (“Southbound”, “Devil’s Due”) and Tyler Gillett (“Southbound”, “Devil’s Due”).

They always say that when the groom sees the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding, their marriage is to be doomed. This might have been the sign for both Alex (Mark O’Brien) and Grace (Samara Weaving) to break off the wedding but still, they went on with it.

Grace has now officially become part of Alex’s Le Domas family… or at least almost. Before she gets accepted by the family, she has to play a game.

Le Domas isn’t only well known for its eccentric family members but also for its games and traditions. At midnight the guest of honour, Grace, has to pick a card on which is stated which game they’re going to play.

She could have picked checkers, backgammon or Cluedo but instead, it became hide and seek.  It doesn’t take long for her to discover that the Le Domas family doesn’t play the ordinary version of this game, especially when her in-laws come after her with guns, crossbows, and firearms.

It goes from bad to worse when Alex brings her the appalling news that his family needs to kill her before dawn or they will all die. This is due to a curse on the family.

The stakes are getting a higher and the game even more dangerous. It becomes one of life and death. But who will live and who will die?

Based on this storyline, we don’t want to know what went on at the Christmas dinner tables of directors and writers Guy Busick (“Urge”, “Archetype”) and Ryan Murphy (“The Mill at Calder’s End”, “Minutes Past Midnight”). But hey, it resulted in a thrilling, funny and splendid film.

Most of that certainly has to do with the stunning performance of the all-round cast. Leading lady Weaving (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”, “Mayhem”) was absolutely on fire in this film: Hilarious, ferocious, emotional and on-point. Armed with a gun and bullets she could easily be “Lara Croft in a wedding dress”.

Alex has sworn to be with his wife until death do them part but death might come sooner than both anticipated. Alex’s doubts and emotions, but also his darker and more obscure sides, are brought strongly to life by O’Brien (“Bad Times at the El Royale”,“ The Front Runner”). The chemistry between Weaving and O’Brien is one that you will love throughout the entire film and even more so towards the end.

And what about the in-laws? Well, you have the stunning Adam Brody (“Shazam!”, “Isabelle”) who portrays Alex’s brother Daniel with a lot of emotions, flair, and darkness.

That Le Doman is a family you don’t want to mess with, that you knew already. However, if there’s one person with whom you don’t want to start an argument, it’s Aunt Helene.

She played exceptionally well by Nicky Guadagni (“Lars And The Real Girl”, “Silent Hill”) who makes us cringe, laugh and scared every time she appears on screen.

Brilliant support comes from Henry Czerny (“Buckout Road”, “The Other Half”) as Tony Le Domas, Andie MacDowell (“The Last Laugh”, “Paper Year”) as Becky Le Domas and Kristian Bruun (“Samanthology”, “Red Rover”) as Fitch Bradley. However, every character in this film might not be what he or she seems to be at first sight.

When it comes to cinematography, Brett Jutkiewicz really succeeds in building that obscure, dark and mysterious vibe that’s behind the family secret.

Together with the Mike Leandro (set decorator) and Mark Alleyne (location manager), they created dark rooms lit up by candles and decorated with old paintings, ruffles and more enigmatic family heirlooms. From that very first scene, you felt like you were part of this twisted family. Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

Of course, it’s not all doom and gloom in Ready or Not. That blue sky, the white finishes and the lovely pathway to the altar remind us that a wedding can be romantic, happy and cheerful.

We’re not sure how it would be if we would watch this movie with the sound off, but it would certainly not have the same effect as the film had on us now.

The creepy, squeaking and fast-paced violins are being accompanied by bombastic, loud and thrilling drums and create the perfect musical score for this film.

Before you think about having a game night with the family, you might want to watch this film first. It will make you think twice about which game you’re going to pick and you will see an extremely captivating, humoristic and entertaining film with Weaving in top-notch form. So are you ready or not to play the game?