The end of August is one of those periods of the film year when you're never quite sure what you're going to get. The summer blockbuster season has come to a close and we're not quite ready to go fishing with Oscar bait. This is frequently when you'll see a collection of very odd movies hit screens that studios aren't quite sure what to do with. It's not hard to see why Ready or Not is one of those movies.
However, sometimes, one of those movies that doesn't quite fit anywhere else on the calendar, comes out and you discover the reason it doesn't fit is because there's simply never been another movie quite like it before. Ready or Not is that movie. I got to see it last night, and I'm still more than a little blown away about what I saw.
It's a fairly unique experience to be surprised by a movie when you write about them every day. And yet, Ready or Not did exactly that. Whatever I thought I was getting from the film, I got something else, something more. Ready or Not is unapologetic in its willingness to try and be several different genres at once. It's a black comedy, a bloody horror movie, and a tense thriller all at once, without compromising any of it.
I'm not the only one at CinemaBlend who feels that Ready or Not is something special. My colleague Eric Eisenberg also saw the film last night and was equally taken by it.
Samara Weaving, an actress you're likely not too familiar with unless you watched the Showtime series SMILF, is absolutely phenomenal in this movie. Her performance really can't be undersold. Ready or Not actually asks quite a bit of its star, and she handles it all expertly. Much of the praise for the new movie includes accolades for her.
The film stars Weaving as Grace, a woman who is about to marry into the Le Domas family. The family made its money making games, and so tradition requires any new members of the family to play a game with the others. Grace's game is hide and seek, but the family version of the game is one in which the one who is hiding will be killed if discovered.
It's an off-the-wall premise to be sure, but it might also be the least bonkers thing in the entire movie. Ready or Not turns the volume all the way up on this story and never looks back.
But the lunatics here at CinemaBlend aren't the only ones who are excited after seeing Ready or Not. Most other critics did as well. The film has a near perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. Griffen Schiller from The Playlist says the movie will far exceed any expectations and audience may have.
A movie like this that doesn't have major star power and is an original story may have trouble finding an audience. It's very likely this was the reason the movie found itself with a late August release date, but if positive buzz means anything, Ready or Not certainly has it. Atom Tickets' Alisha Grauso simply says the movie is a "blast" and praises several member of the cast, Weaving among them of course.
With a rare Wednesday release, Ready or Not may be looking to get some people into theaters to start the word of mouth before the weekend hits. It appears the hype train has already started, as nearly every critic thinks the film is worth checking out. With no other major releases coming for the rest of the month, maybe Ready or Not is going to be the movie to beat.
