Ready or Not (2019) Review

Ready or Not was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and stars Samara Weaving (from The Babysitter, Mayhem), Mark O’brien (from The Dark Stranger) and Adam Brody (from Isabelle, Scream 4). It’s about a woman who marries into the wrong family at the wrong time.

Ready or Not is the ultimate cat and mouse movie. It’s essentially just a family chasing a new bride around their sprawling estate with the goal of making her dead by sun up.

The thing about this family is they’re old money who amassed their fortune through board games and professional sports. So not only are they eccentric and out of touch, but all they know are games. The great grandfather, who was instrumental in their success, was also an avid hunter.

Oh, and they’re also superstitious satanists. So what do super rich, out of touch, devil worshipping gamers do for fun? They hunt people. Specifically, they hunt new members of the family. But only sometimes. Some new members of the family get to play chess, checkers or cards. Others get hunted. In this movie, the newest bride gets hunted (because how boring would a horror movie about chess be).

Ready or Not was both fun and frustrating. It’s supposed to be a fun movie, there’s a lot of crazy characters and plenty of comic relief. But there’s also a lot of terrible decision making and naivety that had me screaming at the screen. It also has a very campy vibe which makes for a cliche feel when combined with comedy and endless dumb decisions.

It’s not really a horror movie, despite the gore. It’s more of a gory action comedy. Overall it was a fun casual popcorn movie, just not one I’d watch twice.