Author Topic: READY OR NOT: review with as few spoilers as possible  (Read 910 times)

Offline perc2100

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READY OR NOT: review with as few spoilers as possible
« on: August 27, 2019, 05:19:33 PM »
READY OR NOT is the genre movie you're looking for.  It could easily be classified as a "horror-comedy," but it's not exactly either one of those things.  It almost starts with a premise that feels similar to the pulled film THE HUNT (minus political nonsense), luring viewers in to a pseudo "Deadliest Game" sort of lethal hide-and-go-seek.  That basic premise is interesting enough for me, but the film gets into sooooo much more it's almost surprising what the filmmakers were able to get away with. 

The story is about a woman on her wedding day, marrying into an incredibly wealthy family that made its $$ in the board and card game industry: the family fortune is so vast they now own "several pro sports teams."  The woman, played by Samara Weaving in what feels like a break-out role for her, is an orphan excited to finally marry into a "real" family.  She gets odd vibes from the family members (patriarch and matriarch; brother & his wife + 2 middle-school or elementary aged kids; sister & her doofish husband; and a very intensely cranky aunt) she can't help but feel are her unworthiness to marry into such a high-powered rich family.

The family lives by tradition, going back four generations, that dictates Game Night whenever someone new enters the family (I assume entering the family via marriage, not by new child birth, though I don't think it's explicitly defined): the newbie draws a card that dictates what game they play, and then the family is off to the races via the game.  Weaving's character draws the infamous "Hide and Seek" card that makes the family a bit edgy.  The bride, unknowing she's about to become the hunted via armed in-laws, goes about hiding, assuming she can play the game out sick enough and get back to celebrating the wedding.

This covers the first 30 minutes of a 91 minute movie, and I think to spoil any more would be a disservice.  The film is directed by 2/3rds of the directors behind the [vhs] short film 10/31/98 which had a similar dark-but-fun(ny) tone to it (FWIW the 3rd director of the short is a producer of READY OR NOT).

There were so many ways this film could drop-the-ball one way or another: if it winks too much at situations, it gets annoyingly coy and goofy.  If it takes itself too seriously the plot quickly could've gone off the rails.  The movie gets slightly meta at times (when talking about family traditions there's a conversation about "why do we have to use old equipment just because Great Granddad was born before the invention of cool technology?!") without getting too clever for its own good.  I found myself not knowing where the film would be headed next, and certainly wondering if the final climax could live up to the premise the family kind of broadly discusses (it totally does!).

The movie at times feels like a distant cousin to the brilliant CABIN IN THE WOODS, only nowhere near as meta or de/reconstructive as that masterpiece (and that's a good thing, really).  There are supernatural(ish) elements that _could_ be at play here, but no over-explaining or getting bogged down in details.  The movie is fairly light on its toes and sticks mostly to the cat-and-mouse game in all its simplicity.

This is a great end-of-summer genre movie that's fast-paced and fun.  There are gory moments and some nice kill shots, but noting too over the top (well....maybe the final climax could be considered over-the-top but nothing like CABIN IN THE WOODS or other more straight-ahead horror films).  I can't imagine this film will stick around in theaters too long, and this is the type of movie you REALLY want to see with a cool audience.  I saw it by myself, and literally four other strangers and if you can wrangle a few genre-loving friends this would be a blast!

Offline Mel

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Re: READY OR NOT: review with as few spoilers as possible
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2019, 08:24:11 PM »
I really loved this movie. Saw it Sunday night.

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Re: READY OR NOT: review with as few spoilers as possible
« Reply #2 on: Today at 05:12:22 PM »

Online NCDS

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Re: READY OR NOT: review with as few spoilers as possible
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2019, 04:16:27 PM »
I'm in the I loved it category.  Saw it last Friday.
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