Ready or Not

Grace is about to marry into the wealthy Le Domas family of gaming fame. Before she can “officially” join the family, tradition states that at midnight on the wedding day, Grace must, of course, play a game. The game is chosen at random with the help of a puzzle box gifted to the family by their original benefactor, Mr. Le Bail, and they’re typically simple and harmless. However, there is one choice that can be “problematic”, to say the least - Hide and Seek - and, naturally, that’s the game that Grace chooses.

The problem with Hide and Seek is that the game is life or death. Grace must hide and not be found until sunrise to win. Or if she does win, legend has it that the Le Domas family with explode or something (no one in the family is really sure, but they know it’s 100% all bad for the family.)

After watching the movie again, I give this movie a 10. Here’s the breakdown as to why:

Originality: Simple enough, it was a great concept for a horror movie. The family that made their fortune on games has a tradition to play a game to welcome in new family members - makes sense. Games are normal games with normal rules and other spouses testify to that - makes sense. But there’s one game that has deadly rules and that’s the game tonight - it was bound to happen and we’re along for the ride.

There are “play a game” movies like Escape Room (and there are a few called Escape Room), but this doesn’t feel like those. Something feels different about Ready or Not so I’m giving it all of its points.
Originality: 2 points

Characters: Ready or Not is a horror-comedy so that allows for some “wiggle room” on how to judge the characters. Grace is a woman who came up in the foster care system with no family and is about to marry a man, Alex, with a solid family and a fortune. The rest of the family fits the “filthy rich people” stereotypes pretty well. The family is braggadocious and entitled. The butler is a tux-wearing British-sounding man who listens to nothing but classical music. The maids are Hispanic. If there was a trope, they had it and that’s expected from a movie that’s supposed to be murderous and fun to watch.

Grace’s reactions to her situation throughout the movie are spot on. The idea that the family has to play this game and hunt her down is ridiculous to her and the fact that it’s driven by some alleged deal with the devil and if they don’t it’ll be their doom is even more ridiculous and she voices this to no avail. This is, again, exactly what you expect from this story.
Characters: 2 points

Story: We start with Grace’s nervousness about joining a big rich family, but the family seems welcoming, although guarded, as Grace and Alex hadn’t been together for very long. The wedding happens and we get to game time. The game is picked and everyone is playing along except Grace who is unaware of the seriousness at first. Once she learns, she’d scared and nervous and those reactions drive the story forward.

If I take points away in this category, it’s because something that is a major story driver is illogical or unclear. The story is clear, clean, simple, and linear. That’s all you can ask for.
Story: 2 points

Ending: This is probably my favorite part because it’s multi-layered. They had locked the doors to the house at the beginning of the game, but she manages to escape when Alex goes against the family, unlocks the doors, and kills the surveillance system. Grace escapes into the woods, but is caught. She escapes again before they get back to the house, but they catch her again. They begin their ritual, but before they kill her, they get sick as, Alex’s brother Daniel, poisons their drink. Not enough to kill, but enough to upset their stomachs and stall. Grace escapes yet again, is caught eventually, and the ritual begins again, but instead of taking a dagger to the heart, Grace manages to turn and takes it to her shoulder. She breaks free and the sun comes up indicating that they’re out of time. The family freaks out only for nothing to happen - until it does! The Le Domas family begins to explode one by one until only Grace is left standing. The closing scene is great with EMTs asking “what happened here” and Grace’s answer, as the mansion burns down and her wedding dress is torn and covered in blood, “In-laws” as the movie fades to black.

It’s great! “Is the curse real?”, “ Do they HAVE to kill Grace?”, “What will happen when they fail?”, “They’re going to fail, right? Right?!” are all questions you ask yourself and I think it’s good to keep people guessing.
Ending: 2 points
Enjoyment: 2 points - If you want a funny horror to watch, this is it. It’s not like Scary Movie but it’s a cute horror film with lots of jokes to keep you entertained.