Ready or Not (2019)

[JohnRice]

Title: Ready or Not

Tagline: In-Laws Can Be Murder

Genre: Horror, Comedy, Thriller

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Cast: Samara Weaving, Andie MacDowell, Mark O'Brien, Adam Brody, Henry Czerny, Nicky Guadagni, Melanie Scrofano, Kristian Bruun, Elyse Levesque, John Ralston, Liam Macdonald, Daniela Barbosa, Celine Tsai, Hanneke Talbot, Ethan Tavares, Chase Churchill, Etienne Kellici, Nat Faxon

Release: 2019-08-21

Runtime: 95

Plot: A bride's wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game.

 

[JohnRice]

Looks like good, twisted fun.

 

[David Weicker]

I saw it last night

A deliciously funny, very black comedy. Some over the top gore (scary/ cringe inducing).

I enjoyed it

 

[JohnRice]

Seems in the vein of The People Under the Stairs.

 

[Patrick Sun]

My 4-word review:

I was not ready.

 

[Sam Posten]

AMC A Listers: Take a chance on it!
https://www.reddit.com/r/AMCsAList/comments/cvvg3y/take_a_chance_on_ready_or_not/

 

[benbess]

It was so-so for me. Kinda funny at times. Not really scary, but somewhat gross. Overall rating: "C+"

 

[TravisR]

Lots of craziness and really funny stuff in the movie but alot of stuff was in/ruined by the trailer.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Lots of craziness and really funny stuff in the movie but alot of stuff was in/ruined by the trailer.

Agree. The trailer takes away a lot of the potential surprises.

I thought the film was reasonably entertaining but not as wild/comedic as it could've been. I won't call the movie restrained but I don't think it took advantage of its potential as well as it could...

 

[Jason_V]

Enjoyed the heck out of it last night. I wanted more laughs and jokes, but I'm pretty happy with what the movie turned out to be. Samara Weaving evolved from beginning to end as she should have and I enjoyed watching that transformation.

 

[JoeStemme]

This would be cheeky satire using a game of deadly Hide and Seek as a metaphor for the vanity of the upper class isn't as clever as it thinks it is, although it does have it's moments. Samara Weaving is Grace, who marries into the rich eccentric family of Alex (Mark O'Brian). Alex doesn't prepare his bride for her wedding night - a game of chance that must be played in order to keep the family tradition alive (conveniently, Grace doesn't bring along any family or friends of her own).
Turns out, this wedding's game mixes Hide & Seek with The Most Dangerous Game -- Grace isn't just to be 'found' but hunted down like prey (Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None is also name-checked). Alex's family are a ghoulish lot with Andie MacDowell and Henry Czerny as his parents, Nicky Guadagni as a nasty aunt along with others including new sister in laws played by Elyse Levesque and Melanie Scrofano. Adam Brody is Alex' close brother Daniel.
The plot doesn't get much more complicated than the set-up, but those with a sick sense of humor (guilty), will find some devilish delights in the gruesome goings on. Writers Gary Busick and Ryan Murphy (no, not THAT one) along with co-Directors Matt Bettini-Olpin and Tyler Gillett try to add a layer of social commentary about the rich and their lack of empathy, but, it's extremely weak tea. Any real bite is severely undermined by resorting to various versions of F-Bombs. Deep.
Weaving makes for a plucky heroine. The actors are game, and the Production Design (Andrew Stearn) is suitably creepy and garish. There are some genuine laughs and some scattered suspense, it's just unfortunate that more care wasn't give to creating a more cohesive tone and, most certainly, another polish of the screenplay. Ready or Not? Mainly: "or".

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I took advantage of the $9.99 UHD Vudu price for this and screened it for tonight's movie night. We all had a lot of fun with it. Samara Weaving is a star, and the movie really knew how to utilize the particular talents of Adam Brody and Henry Czerny.