I can’t believe that I missed
this film when it hit the theaters last year. I know most of you guys have
watched this film. I heard it was good at that time and how stupid of me, I
just didn’t bother to watch this film at the theater (limited money and time).
So, this film finally crossed my mind after I searched for couple of horror
films I haven’t watched. The list includes: THE WAILING, A GIRL WALK ALONE AT
NIGHT, REVENGE, LET ME IN, HARPOON, and
the latest series of JU-ON – ORIGINS on Netflix. All these films (Ju-On is a
series, btw) will have their own reviews later.
So here is my review for READY OR
NOT.
 |
| Grace be like: "Fuck these rich people!" |
READY OR NOT is a 2019 black
comedy horror film which co-directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler
Gillett. The film stars Samara Weaving (she looks like Emma Stone and Margot
Robbie) as a newlywed who is having bad-luck to play a deadly family-tradition
game in her wedding night. The casts include Mark O’Brien, Adam Brody, Henry
Czerny, Andie MacDowell, and many more (I couldn’t write all casts here).
The film starts with two
children, Alex and Daniel, who were witnessing a death of an unknown man from
this deadly game. Then it cuts off to the grown-up Alex, who is older and
getting married to a woman named Grace. Grace herself gets scrutinized by Alex’s
family because of her social status. Even though Grace comes from a
not-really-wealthy family, it doesn’t stop her to marry Alex. The wedding
celebration is done and the Le Domas family will hold a game night as a
tradition to welcome a new member of their family. The patriarch of the family,
Tony (played by Henry Czerny), tells a backstory about Le Domas and the
tradition. A newlywed has to pick a random card that turns out it is
hide-and-seek game that they have to play. All going well until Grace noticed
something wrong after she witnessed the death of a maid right before her eyes.
Everything is crazy since then.
The pacing of this film is pretty
fast and that’s good actually. It only runs for one hour and 35 minutes. The
story progresses so good with no nonsense or anything. The intensity of the
story is quite intense but not really that intense because it has a lot of
funny moments as the story progresses. This film made me laugh more than
anything. But doesn’t mean this film can’t scare you. There are some moments
that can put you in the edge of your seat.
The characters’ developments are
also great. Even the comedic tone in this film is strong enough, I personally
can feel the confusions between all characters. I mean, if you deal with a
tradition that should kill a new member of the family, you will be confused as
hell, too. Plus, the members of the family really don’t know how to use a
weapon properly (side note: they must use ancient weapons only). That is one
advantage for the protagonist. The battling mind whether they really should do
it or not, and is the consequence real or not. Every character has colorful
personalities which is really rare for a horror film to do.
I also noticed that there is an
intention to poke on a society in this film. The social commentary here is also
well-delivered. I mean we’ve seen enough films with the battle between the rich
and the poor, but not as interesting as this film. The moral of the story is
earn your money in really good and safe ways, don’t make an offer or promise
that you can’t keep or fulfill. *cough* babi ngepet, tuyul, dkk.
The plot itself is quite predictable.
We’ve seen a lot of films with ‘final girls’ cliché, fuck-up family, etc. This
film somehow makes this cliché aspect as an enjoyable ride.
This film is pretty smart,
hilarious, and sustained with strong performances from the actors/actresses
especially for Samara Weaving as Grace. An enjoyable ride from start to finish,
and it will splash you with its comedic tones and its bloody disturbing moments.
p.s. this film actually reminds
me of YOU’RE NEXT! That film is a total game-changer for character developments
in slasher films. Finally, a protagonist that is smart and have a lot of guts to attack the killers.
Directed by Written
by
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Guy Busick
Tyler Gillett R.
Christopher Murphy
Starring Runtime
Samara Weaving 95 minutes
Adam Brody
Mark O'Brien FOX Searchlight
Henry Czerny
Andie MacDowell
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