Ready or Not Review

Ready or Not was the second feature film made by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, AKA Radio Silence (fourth if their work on anthology films gets included), and arguably the film that cemented their reputations as horror-comedy filmmakers.

Grace (Samara Weaving) marries into the Le Domas family, owners of the Le Domas Family Games company. At midnight on her wedding night, Grace has to participate in a family tradition where a new member has to play her game. A seemingly simple game of hide and seek is actually a hunt for a ritual, and Grace needs to fight to survive.

Ready or Not received glowing reviews in 2019 and has enough of a legacy to warrant a sequel. Radio Silence ended up bringing the Scream series back to life and made Abigail. Ready or Not gave Weaving her breakout role, and she ended up in films like Bill & Ted Face the Music, Snake Eyes, and Azrael. There were good reasons why it has earned its reputation.

Ready or Not was a Most Dangerous Game-style story. The Most Dangerous Game was an influential short story where a rich game hunter decides to hunt humans. Many films have been inspired by the story, ranging from The Naked Prey, Hard Target and 2020’s The Hunt. It’s a premise that obviously stood the test of time. In Ready or Not’s case, it was a violent, cathartic experience. It was a darkly funny film with its use of death and violence. One member of the family had a habit of killing the wrong people, and I found the moment where a child was punched unconscious very funny.

The film was made on a modest $6 million budget. This led to the film being set in a tight environment since it took place in and around the Le Domas mansion. Besides surviving, Grace’s goal was to get out of the property. The mansion made a great environment as Grace navigates the upstairs and downstairs, and secret corridors. It led to a great cat-and-mouse game. Abigail had some similarities to Ready or Not, since the vampire film was also set in a mansion and featured a group of thieves who needed to survive being hunted by sunrise. Ready or Not’s tightness extended to its 95-minute run time, which made it a taut, quick experience.

Grace does get put through the wringer throughout the film. Grace gets bloodied and battered, but she’s a tough cookie who overcomes her initial fright and shows her ability to fight when required. Samara Weaving wearing a wedding dress, Converse All Star trainers, and holding a rifle, was an enduring image from the film. Ready or Not was a great showcase for the Aussie actress.

Ready or Not came out at the beginning of the current “eat-the-rich” trend of cinema. It came out at the same time as Knives Out, Joker, and Parasite, and led to films like The Menu and Triangle of Sadness. They all had an irreverent look at the rich and showed them getting taken down a peg or two. Ready or Not was overt with its approach since Grace was a woman who grew up in foster care and was hunted by generations of the same family who needed her to keep their generational wealth. Grace even sighs the words “fucking rich people”, which summed up the film and the zeitgeist in 2026.

Ready or Not was a straightforward film that was entertaining for its carnage, dark comedy, and social commentary against the rich.