A Deadly Game of "Ready or Not"
Ready or Not traces the story of Grace, who is a newlywed, and is forced to play a dangerous game of hide and seek with her husband’s twisted family during her first night of marriage. In a huge luxurious house at night and being hunted by a group of wicked rich family who intends to sacrifice her just like what they always did to many families they have invaded upon.
For social themes, it is within the struggles of the lower class, appearance of sophistication through what one might presume to be family values, and how people will do whatever it takes to avoid the truth. It features elements of horror and dark comedy that can be quiet horrific, yet quite funny at times as it makes fun of the society and the concept of the wealthy.
The excellent performance of the movie can be attributed to the casting of Samara Weaving who plays Grace, the intelligent and vengeful bride. The supporting cast features Adam Brody and Andie MacDowell both of whom deliver in terms of portraying a believable dysfunctional family necessary to create a some tension and humor.
The movie has been directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and the way they have managed the pace of the movie is perfect and suspense along with comedy is perfect. Their direction holds the viewer’s attention and builds an effectively intense story out of the unending series of ugly secrets.
Menahan’s score also brings the thriller aspect of the film as it complements the film’s eerie tone in every scenario. With its dark chords and cheerful notes, it combines the two main themes of the film – horror and satire.
The camerawork does a good job of exemplifying the opulence of the Le Domas mansion and the wide and dark and detailed corridors and ornaments are used to give a sense of mere isolation and danger. It also brings the tension and pulls the viewer into Grace’s dangerous situation as well as possible.
Upin the distorted and dark vision, the sets establish the creepy luxurious of Le Domas family house as another central character. Each stage twists the idea of the evil beneath the surface of elegance and further emphasizes the plot’s condemnation of the aristocracy and the preservation of the status quo.
This creates an even better combination of horror and comedy as well as the narrative, without exaggerating the use of special effects. They work to make better some crucial scenes, adding density to the noise and the violence.
Its editing is great, where nothing feels rushed but also there is no let up in the pace of the story-telling. The pov, shifting between Grace’s fight for her life and the family members’ ordeal to continue the tradition is intense.
Ready or Not for instance moves from one scene to the other with great energy, keeping the audience thrilled throughout. The directors succeed in combining the strong action with occasional signs of black joke creating the interest to the viewers while the action is going on.
The dialog is very tight and full of humor, which adds to both comedic and more dark aspects of the movie. The characters constantly engage in witty banter that contains a fair level of black comedy along with criticism of the society adding to the artificiality of their family relations.
What ‘Ready or Not’ does is offer a hardcore experience and for some, I believe, the satire may get lost in horror. However, since the movie aims at giving the experimental take to the horror-comedy genre, it will balance these off somehow.