In easily the biggest surprise yet this year, Ready or Not combines pitch-black humor with murderous thrills to perfectly entertaining effect.
On the night of her marriage into the wealthy Le Domas family, Grace is invited to partake in a family tradition: a game night, in which she must draw a card from a mysterious box and the family will play the game on that card. Sounds simple enough, but when the box delivers the game of Hide and Seek, the family members can scarcely mask their own horror. The game begins, but as Grace navigates the darkened mansion (still in her ghostly wedding dress, no less), the family members arm themselves with archaic weapons and prepare to hunt. It's The Most Dangerous Game by another name.
Then again, the game itself would be more dangerous if the hunters actually wanted to do the deed. See, the family isn't just a bunch of crazed killers as the trailer suggested. They are rather obligated to pursue Grace based on the traditional rule of the game, handed down for generations, since the patriarch of the Le Domas clan struck a Faustian bargain for fortune. Or, at least, so the myth goes. So we have a normal, stupid rich family with plenty of internal drama forced to engage in a ritualistic sacrifice in order to (supposedly) stay alive the following day. It's hilarious, because several members of the family don't even believe in this tradition, and so they must navigate between solidarity with the family, their affection for Grace, following tradition, and of course their own not-so-latent capitalist bloodlust.
The cast, led by a magnificent Samara Weaving, is uniformly excellent. The script is clever and chilling, knowing and witty, turning in somewhat unpredictable ways to an ending that flips more than once. And while the cinematography leaves more than a little to be desired -- its handheld levelness is disappointing in a film that so aggressively challenges convention -- the gorgeous sets and costumes distract you enough to compensate.
It's the rare film that suggests almost too much to sound entertaining. Casual discussion could range anywhere from feminist diatribes about misogyny in horror to celebrations of messianic womanhood (don't tell me the scene where she descends into a hellish pit and then ascends by getting her hand stabbed through with a nail isn't obvious), from Marxist critiques of diabolical sacrifices for capital to historicized surveys of cinematic family rites gone horribly wrong, from Satanic panic to revenge thrills, and beyond. And yet, for all its weight and depth, Ready or Not is also just a ton of fun. As any game should be.
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