READY OR NOT

Director
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
(DEVIL’S DUE)

Starring
Samara Weaving, Mark O’Brien, Adam Brody, Henry Czerny, Andie MacDowell, Melanie Scrofano, Kristian Bruun, Elyse Levesque and Nicky Guadagni

You’ve been with your life partner for 18 months on the day of your wedding. To this day, you still don’t feel a part of his family and believe that his parents strongly dislike you. Hopefully, perhaps even maybe, their feelings towards you might begin to change given the momentous occasion and the fact they just gotta accept you’re the woman their son loves and has chosen to be with! Then, a glimmer of hope of just that comes to fruition when your husband advises that his family wish for you to take part in a long-held tradition of theirs at the stroke of midnight…

That is the exact predicament Grace (played by Aussie actress and niece of Hugo Weaving, Samara Weaving) finds herself in this comedic horror flick, READY OR NOT. That rather peculiar family tradition involves her participation in a seemingly harmless card game. However, judging by the opening sequence and the reactions of others seated at the table after she draws an ominous card, this game will be anything but fun for Grace… if she survives it!

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There isn’t anything wrong with how READY OR NOT plays out, which is much like a cat and mouse thriller meets slasher horror film, with regular and intentionally darkly comedic jabs. As such, it is always entertaining and offers horror fans a sweet little treat this Halloween. The thing is though, READY OR NOT was capable of so much more!

The writers either didn’t realise or just don’t possess the creative inspiration to extract the mystique and summon genuine intrigue embedded within this plot and take it to fresh territory similar to what GET OUT absolutely nailed. It does, however, maintain its vibe and keeps delivering dark humour from beginning to end, so credit given where credit due. Unfortunately, even this was an equal share of hit and miss for me, which I largely put down to the obviousness in its trajectory and sometimes its execution. Too many times, something felt a bit off the mark or were noticeably not quite right. For instance, I can’t help but feel that whatever was envisaged from Andie MacDowell’s appearance here as the groom’s mother never really fully emerged. Nicky Guadagni’s efforts as the malicious Aunt have makings of brilliance, but stumble at times and can’t be capitalised on throughout. Exempt from these shortcomings though is Margot Robbie’s look-alike, Samara Weaving, who consistently gives an extremely gallant performance as Grace.

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Later, the script develops a tendency to get a little lazy as it quite inconceivably writes itself out of a dead end here and a tricky corner there. By the finale, my main problem with READY OR NOT is actually the foundation of its central plot, which explains the motivation for what has just eventuated. To be frank, I find this kinda dumb and certainly very unimaginative.

Oh well, in the end, I suppose one could say that at best, READY OR NOT is quite literally ‘bloody’ good fun! So, don’t avoid it, just don’t go in with the same hopes that I did.

3 stars