The gorier, gushier, nastier cousin to Knives Out, which also came out in 2019, Ready or Not skewers the 1 percent as well, but this time literally. Samara Weaving plays a new bride who marries into a board-game dynasty. Part of the wedding-night ritual is to play a game with her new husband’s extended clan; depending on the card she pulls from an ancient box, it could be checkers or it could be … something more sinister. Slyly written by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy and slickly directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Ready or Not works best as a black comedy about how far the obscenely rich will go to keep what they (undeservedly) have. Broad laughs come from Nicky Guadagni as a maniacal aunt and Melanie Scrofano as the family’s spoiled, screw-up daughter. (After accidentally killing a second maid, she pitifully whines, “Why does this always happen to me?”) Walking a finer line is Adam Brody, who offers satirical commentary as a boozy, reluctant son. As for Weaving, her spirited performance grows stronger with each rip and stain that soils her white wedding dress (at one point she uses the sash as a weapon). By the movie’s end she’s like a punk-goth Carrie, sporting blood-spattered Chuck Taylors and a nuptial gown that’s in tatters.
(1/11/2022)
