The following contains spoilers for Ready or Not

Marrying your partner should be one of the happiest moments of your life. Grace wasn’t lucky enough to experience it.

Grace, a young bride, joins her new husband, Alex Le Domas, and his wealthy, eccentric Family in a game of hide-and-seek as her in-laws try to find her before dawn. When Grace realizes that the Le Domas family intends to hunt her down and kill her, she must fight to survive.

Ready or Not is not intended to make you feel sympathy for the victims. In this film there are no inexperienced teenagers who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nor teenagers who, because of their pranks and rude attitudes, ended up being hunted down. Our protagonists are experienced killers who disguise their bloodlust with a convenient family myth.

Grace Le Domas: The Final Girl We All Love

The famous Final Girl trope changes drastically here. We don’t have the quiet, reserved, virgin girl who survived because she was the epitome of good morals and perfection. Grace is outspoken, witty and often vulgar, unafraid to smoke, curse and discuss sex with her fiancé.

On the opposite side, the Good For Her trope is present just as we love it. We take pleasure in Grace’s revenge, leaving Le Domas’s house after dawn, drenched in blood and smoking. Grace doesn’t just defend herself, but uses violence to hurt and stop the family.  She manages to survive the attacks, taking revenge on her husband and the rest of his family, making her beloved by the viewers.

Eat the rich: Social Analysis

Ready or Not is a bloody and entertaining satire of the rich and their drive to maintain power. 

If we analyze the plot, we learn how dangerous status and wealth are in the hands of certain groups. 

The privileges of the family are clear. They only look out for their own selfish interests. Within their household, they do not see their domestic workers as human beings, but as pieces used to their advantage. When they die (in this case, accidentally murdered) they are treated as a nuisance to be dealt with immediately.

The Le Domas family has lost empathy and compassion over the years. After the dark pact with the mysterious Mr. Le Bail, everything changed. That is if this wealthy family ever had good values.  Fun fact: Le Bail is an anagram of Belial, a word used to designate the “devil”. 

This devil-worshiping family sees everyone else, including Grace, as a pawn. To them, she is a mere sacrifice that will allow them to maintain their abundant wealth.

Like Grace, the employees of the Le Domas household, and the new members of the family are all mere playthings for their rich-people games. 

The bloodiest wedding: How Costumes Show The Characters’ Arcs.

Throughout the film we see Grace’s transformation, both physically and mentally. The character’s growth is mirrored in her attire. 

In the beginning, Grace tears her dress, symbolizing the way she tears the illusion of being in the Le Domas family. She goes from wearing her elegant heels tokers, showing that she is no longer just a bride, but a fighter. The whiteness (Grace’s innocence) of her dress disappears with each death, leaving her in a destroyed black dress.  In the end, this deterioration manages to trace Grace’s gradual realization of wanting a loving family, to mourning the death of her dream .

The Perfect Balance: When Gore and Comedy Meet

The film offers a good combination of laughs and brutal violence. Ready or Not is a film that is as comical as it is bloody and gory.

We have sadistic characters who kill to stay in power, but each is unique in its own way. We have the sister who does nothing right and screws everything up, the heartless grandmother, and a sweet mother who won’t hesitate to blow your head off.  

As a fan of both genres, I can say that this movie hit the mark. You only need to watch the final scene to realize that even after torture and murder, the jokes never stop. Ready or Not definitely gives a new meaning to “impress your future in-laws.” 

If you feel like watching a comedy horror movie that is not afraid of blood and inhuman screams, Ready or Not is the best choice.