Ready or Not

 

Released in 2019, Ready or Not is a thriller directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett that stars Samara Weaving, Adam Brody and Henry Czerny. Made on a modest budget of $6 million, this caught my interest when reading a film magazine (my subscription fortunately ended right when the pandemic began) and while I'm not the biggest fan of horror or thrillers, there was something about the trailers, which featured a mix of thrills and humour, which saw me add it to the watchlist.

Weaving stars as a bride on her wedding day who is about to marry into an incredibly wealthy family. The husband has warned her they're a bit different but she's ready to commit and become a part of the family headed-up by Czerny, who is a big fan of tradition. As the night draws to a close there's just one tradition left to do; a simple board game. Unfortunately for the bride, things take a sinister turn and so the game begins. 

Directed with a mix of horror and humour, Ready or Not is one of those highly enjoyable experiences that makes the most of its limited budget and talented cast. It's not a thriller in the sense that it will linger over you for a day or two afterwards though so anyone on the sensitive side should be fine. The Shining this is not! But at the risk of sounding like a broken record, like so many others, this film only really struggles in the final act, where some character motivation felt deliberately vague, which subtracted from the overall impression left at the end. 

By the end, Weaving proves to be a star watch with hopefully a bright career ahead of her while giving future Halloween parties a new gun-wielding bride costume to be seen in parties soon. Ready or Not is a fun, easy-going and inventive thriller that was enjoyable to watch while sneaking in some social commentary but regrettably is a bit easy to forget. The 90 minute running-time is wisely used and won't swallow a whole evening making this still a decent recommend if this sounds of interest to you.