Hide and Seek has never been so traumatically used in a film as what is experienced in Ready or Not. Samara Weaving (Hugo’s niece) portrays Grace, a bride set to marry her groom Alex Le Domas (Mark O’Brien). She is beside herself with blissful joy, after all, she is marrying her prince, the love of her life and best friend. Also, it is not too shabby to be joining the uber-wealthy family of Le Domas with their board game empire. Given the family’s business, it is a little odd, but not completely out of left field, that at the stroke of midnight on the day of her wedding, she is expected to play a game with the clan before it all is made official.
Through a selection of a card at random, tonight’s game will be Hide and Seek, and Ready or Not … here they come.
The new to Blu-Ray, DVD and digital download horror/thriller is wickedly intelligent and was a surprise joy when it hit theaters earlier this year. Now that it’s on home video, expect its cult classic stature to grow exponentially. In fact, look for it to land on a bevy of best-of lists as we prepare to close out the year that was 2019. For me personally, it is with great pride that the flick scored a nomination for the Hollywood Critics Association (of which I’m a member) for Best Horror/Thriller. Whether it wins or not will be revealed on January 9, 2020—but for all intents and purposes, Ready or Not has already won as this flick came out of left field and caught everyone by surprise.
Weaving enters the film, as would any bride on her wedding day, filled with joy, nerves and the blissful joy that comes with marrying your best friend and all that blank slate anticipation that comes with looking at the lifelong road that lies ahead with the utmost of optimism. Hindsight is 20/20 and judging by how some in the Le Domas clan were “eyeing” her during the ceremony even, it should have been a clue. But then again, is either the bride or groom doing anything but focusing on each other and that penultimate moment that leads to the “I dos?”
Grace and Alex make it official, the reception goes by in a blink (doesn’t it always, though), and just as the bride is thinking about the wink-wink-nudge-nudge part of the wedded evening, Alex informs her about the family tradition. Given that this clan made their fortune with games, it’s not like this is a crazy endeavor. Ever eager to fit in with her new relatives, she’s game—pun intended.
But it becomes immediately and frighteningly clear to our newlywed that there is nothing playful about this game. As teased in the Ready or Not trailer, soon after the game commences, a weapon fires—almost by accident—and a bloodied individual slumps to their death, right in front of Grace. Oh, this is real alright and it is at that moment where all that wedded delight goes out the window, along with any “good sport” sentiment she emitted about going through the motions on this family tradition of playing a game on the night of nuptials.
We, the viewers, keenly know what is going on. There is some longtime curse that befalls the family if they don’t undertake the game where that “to death do us part” section of the vows take on a whole different meaning with the Le Domas’. Given that the family’s mansion is enormous, there are plenty of places to hide for this hide and seek and Alex even manages to find Grace at one point to explain his “side” of this story and honestly—she doesn’t care. She just wants her new hubby to give her the inside scoop as to how to beat the clan, and thus the game.
How all of that is achieved is so brilliantly laid out in one of the more original screenplays that came out of 2019. Ryan Murphy (not the creator of American Horror Story) and Guy Busick go deep with their script in that it appears as if this could be a bold statement of the haves versus the have-nots. There are elements of that, sure, but Ready or Not is more about the fun involved in a character being thrown to the wolves and those wolves not realizing that their easy prey is anything but. For audiences, that makes for one hell of a compelling tale that rivets throughout. Another facet that helps this thing stay tight is it clocks in at just over 90 minutes. Thrillers work their best, especially a single concept horror show like this one, when they can get it all out there and wrap it up within an hour and a half.
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (collectively known as Radio Silence) share directing duties on this one and every decision they made putting this together is spot-on brilliant. Hearing their insight into putting together this modern thriller with those bonus features had us thinking that Alfred Hitchcock himself would have gotten quite a kick out of this puppy.
Let the Games Begin: The Making of Ready or Not is a tantalizingly terrific, three-part, bonus feature that will leave no questions unanswered by the conclusion of its 42 minutes. The trifecta of awesomeness’ are Part 1: A Devil’s Bargain, Part 2: The Le Domas Name — A Family Brand and lastly, Part 3: ’Til Death Do Us Part. There is a slew of behind-the-scenes footage in these featurettes that, coupled with interviews from filmmakers and stars alike, add priceless layers to the enjoyment factor for the entire film experience. This is one of the more enriching making-ofs we have seen in 2019. Come for the three-part featurette, and stay for the gag reel—after all, it’s robust as these things go … at just over four minutes.
Ready or Not is easily one I can recommend purchasing for the collection. After all, there is so much that is missed with the first viewing, what with trying to figure out this insane premise. On one of those subsequent viewings, turn on the audio commentary track and it is insanely entertaining. Radio Silence is joined by Weaving and the three of them have an absolute blast doing two things—reliving their joyous experience making the movie and offering some on set secrets that lead to some fascinating stories and trivia about the making of an instant cult classic.
Film Grade: A-
Bonus Features: A