Oh. My. God. Even though it's arriving in Ireland about a month after everywhere else, Ready or Not immediately establishes itself as one of the funnest films this year. There was no way that I wasn't going to love this movie, not with a premise like this anyway. "Woman tries to survive her wedding night while being hunted by her crazy in-laws" is a great concept for a comedy horror, and the real excitement is watching how that's explored. This is what spooky season is all about, folks, and I cannot wait to dive into it, so let's. Freaking. Go. This is a good example of a film working on the strength of its premise alone. The plot follows Samara Weaving's Grace, who's marrying into the wealthy Le Domas family (they prefer dominion). The catch for joining this board-game empire is that, on their wedding night, the family-member-to-be has to play a game. Which is fine, unless you draw the card that says you have to play hide-and-seek. Do not draw the hide-and-seek card. Grace draws the hide-and-seek card. The shit hits the fan. Hide-and-seek is a deadly serious matter for the Le Domas clan, who intend on hunting Grace down and killing her. The reason for this is a little bit spoiler-y, but rest assured, it's as gleefully nuts as you'd expect from this kind of movie
My local cinema screened this with captions on for some reason, which actually turned out to be kind of great. I tend to watch things with the captions on anyway, and in a film that hinges on its tension, it's pretty fun to know exactly what kind of noise you're hearing. And the tension here is kind of great. When the hunt begins, the film is so creative with its setpieces and their construction. This film is legitimately tense in a really fun way. Every part of this house and it's grounds is utilised, from the service corridors to the creepy-as-hell shed full of goats. The sense of location in this movie is amazing, and watching as it shifts from the joy of a wedding to the hell of the hunt is an absolute thrill. The house feels like its own character, just as tied into the sinister machinations of the Le Domas clan as any of it's members. Speaking of the Le Domases (Les Domas? Le Domasi?), they're amazing antagonists. Each one has such a distinct personality, and watching their overblown personalities expand even further as the slaughter progresses is one of the big joys of Ready or Not. Big shoutout to Aunt Helene and her intense devotion to the cause, and another one to my main man Stevens, the crazy butler who gets some of the best (and nastiest) moments in the movie
Of course a horror movie is only as good as its survivor, and Samara Weaving is such a badass. She was the best thing about The Babysitter, which, naff as it was, turned out to be the perfect showcase of her horror-chops. I genuinely can't wait for what she does next, because she absolutely tears this movie up. This is her film, and watching as she unleashes her survival skills on her murderous in-laws is a pure delight. She's got it all: the wisecracking humour, the hardened survival instinct and even the rootability of a woman who just can't catch a break. She's an awesome horror hero, balancing everything with a genuine likeability that really amps up the satisfaction factor of the ensuing bloodbath. And the crazier the film gets, the more she grounds it, ensuring that it never gets to carried away in its antics by being someone who you genuinely like and want to see succeed.
She's also a great character in the context of the film's satire. Without giving too much away, Ready or Not is critical of the über-rich and the things they do to stay that way. Like the best horror-commentary, it's genuinely scary because there's an element of truth to it. Even though everything is over-the-top, the shadowy illegitimacy of the Le Domas family's empire is eerily believable, and seeing how (almost) every member of the family is corrupted by this ethos to some extent is incredibly unsettling. Is this commentary kind of overshadowed by the crazy gore and comedy? I mean yeah, but it is there, and a lot of it does hit the mark. It's not the strongest aspect of the film, but it's sharp enough to make an impression. What makes it work better is Grace's status as the outsider, the everywoman who finds herself in this web of dark secrets with the truth of the family's wealth at the centre. This is the brain behind the fun, and it gives it a really clever edge that I'm sure will give it some serious rewatch value
For all of this though, there is one problem: it's way too short. Not only does it feel like there's not enough of it, but it also means that by the end of it, it feels like there's still a little more to be done. Without getting into too many spoilers the ending, as batshit crazy as it is, is very neat, not necessarily a problem, but it does feel like the film sacrificed more setpieces to get to there. It's a weird one: I do love how bold and crazy the note it finishes on is, but I would have liked a little bit more of an escalation. A nitpick? Most definitely, but it did bother me, because I was having so much fun with the film, and I would have liked if it let itself breath a little more. This is a sprint, not a marathon, which is fine, but it means that all of the really great stuff here does feel a tad rushed. Oh well, it's still huge amounts of fun
So Ready or Not is the crazy horror comedy bonanza that we need right now. It takes a simple idea and pumps it full of gore, comedy and stinging social commentary. It's an amped up assault on the 1%, with pleasing amounts of violence and enough knowing humour to stop it from ever tipping into excess. Samara Weaving is an absolute boss, and I'm so excited to see what she does next, because she makes this movie what it is. Throw in a wonderfully hissable cast of evil in-laws and you've got a genuine delight of a comedy horror. Yeah it's short and quick, but it's a deliriously fun ride that rarely holds back on anything. It's so exciting that we have a movie like this in 2019, exciting, bold wonderfully standalone. It never plays it safe, instead choosing to bring gloriously chaotic horror into the mainstream. More. Films. Like. This. PLEASE.
No comments:
Post a Comment