From her roles in genre films like Mayhem and The Babysitter to a supporting role in the sitcom, SMILF, Samara Weaving has slowly started to make herself known as a dynamic screen presence. However, with her latest film, Ready Or Not, she finally has the starring vehicle necessary to show off just how terrific she can be. If there had to be one reason to see the film, the big one would be to see the emergence of a total movie star in the making. Thankfully, it also helps that the movie is also really great.
Ready Or Not is the latest film from the filmmaking trio, Radio Silence, which consists of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Chad Villella, with the former two directing while Villella executive produces. The film, which is written by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy, has a simple, but stellar setup – Grace (Samara Weaving) marries into a rich dynasty, which she struggles a bit with because of her working class background. She hopes to make a good impression, and she finds the opportunity on the wedding night when she takes part in a family tradition. Given the family has built their wealth on cards and board games, they have any new members joining the family play a random game. Unfortunately for Grace, the “game” turns out to be far deadlier than anything she has imagined.
The film plays out like a reversal on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre scenario, except instead of the grimy and dirty poverty that Grace is trapped in that same level of menace and violence is in a vast mansion that feels more like the set of Clue. What proceeds is a delightfully gruesome cat-and-mouse chase between Grace and her new in-laws, while her husband, Alex (Mark O’Brien), tries his best to help her survive the night. To get into more detail would ruin some of the fun surprises that the film has in store, and it’s absolutely the kind of film that can get a crowd riled up as each moment builds upon everything that came before.
It sounds intense, and it very much is. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett have years of horror filmmaking under their belt, and their precision is unquestionable, especially in terms of building suspense with increasing levels of desperation and danger lurking around every corner of the house. However, it’s worth noting that the film is really funny as well. It’s a stunning tonal tightrope where events will go from horrific to funny to over-the-top violent, sometimes in a matter of seconds. It largely avoids going for easy gags, with the most effective ones often revolving around the inexperience and inability of certain family members to commit acts of violence, like one who amusingly watches YouTube tutorials on how to use his crossbow at an early point in the hunt.
What keeps the film from tipping too far into total ridiculousness is the performances, which are all grounded in some semblance of humanity, even if that humanity comes in the form of whatever weird, twisted logic that the rich family uses to justify their ritual. Everyone is giving a sincere performance, which coming from talented folks like Adam Brody, Andie MacDowell, and Henry Czerny, among many others, helps make the horror and the comedy land that much harder. But at the end of the day, it’s Weaving’s movie, and she sells each moment of terror, confusion, absurdity, and emotional vulnerability with such a command of whatever the film requires of her at each particular moment, whether it’s building up to a gory act of violence, a punchline, or both at the same time.
If there is a nitpick to be made, it would probably be on its somewhat muddled and superficial commentary on the elite. There are moments where the film explores the dynamics of class, especially when it gets into details on certain characters, like one who – without revealing what exactly it was – talks about how she is more than willing to murder someone if it means she continues to live in affluence because it will always be better than what she experienced before. However, these kind of moments are few and far between, and the whole “eat the rich” attitude of the film is slightly contradicted by a repeating gag that involves the numerous deaths of the maids, finding humor in their disposability. It’s the one false note in the whole movie, and that is acknowledging that I still found the gag to be funny when taken on its own.
Despite that minor gripe, Ready Or Not is still a total blast from start to finish. It’s a propulsive, no nonsense horror-comedy that hits a bullseye on nearly all its targets, from its tense setpieces, to the hilarious banter, to the gleeful violence, to what is easily one of the most satisfying endings I’ve seen all year. The filmmakers hit far more than they miss here, which would have been impressive enough without the already tricky tonal balance that was accomplished here. Samara Weaving carries the film with ease, confidence, and plenty of charisma. While it’s not as thematically fine-tuned as it could have been, it’s still a very fun, very visceral ride that is sure to be a favorite with fans of gnarly genre movies.