Dead funny family feud
READY OR NOT ★★★★
(Cert 18, 95mins)
CLASS war is not only waged at a Labour Party Conference.The rich are literally hunting the poor in this riotously entertaining horror comedy.
The setting is a Gothic mansion somewhere in America where Grace (Samara Weaving, niece of Hugo), an orphan brought up in foster homes, is marrying Alex (Mark O’Brien), heir to the Le Domas board game empire.
After the ceremony, Grace is told she has to take part in a bizarre ritual.Whenever someone joins the family, they have to play a midnight game selected from an antique box. Recent additions played draughts and Old Maid but Grace pulls out a card marked Hide And Seek.
Worried looks dart around the table.They haven’t seen this card in decades.As a bemused Grace seeks a hiding place, the family select antique weapons and prepare for a hunt.
It turns out the marriage hasn’t won the approval of the ghost of a dead ancestor, the one who sold his soul to the Devil to secure the family fortune. If they don’t sacrifice Grace to Satan, they will all die by sunrise.
Master of the house Tony (Henry Czerny), his wife Becky (Andie MacDowell) and their spoilt grown-up children don’t want to kill Grace but they know someone must suffer for their life of luxury.
Much of the comedy stems from the fact that they are all useless murderers.After the weapons are doled out, one family member heads to the toilet to watch a YouTube video called Getting To Know Your Crossbow.
After a couple of close shaves, Grace realises she has the smarts to turn the tables on her complacent assailants.
The film moves at a fair clip with directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin making clever use of their single location to build suspense and periodically puncture it with over-the-top gore and tongue-incheek comedy.
Heads get squished, sometimes the wrong ones, and family divisions begin to open up.
The satire is far from subtle but the film doesn’t take itself remotely seriously.
It’s a lot more fun than a Jeremy Corbyn party conference.
TOMORROW ★★ (Cert 15, 92mins)
DISABILITY, HIV and PTSD all feature in this well-intentioned but very soapy British drama.
The film, which features cameos from Joss Stone and Stephen Fry, tells the story of a wheelchair-bound army veteran (Sebastian Street) who befriends a big-hearted stranger (Stuart Brennan) and falls for a saintly business student (Stephanie Leonidas).
Street (who also co-wrote the script) delivers a committed performance but the direction is too flat and the characters are too thinly drawn to justify the price of a cinema ticket.