HIDE AND FREAK
It’s destined to put you off getting married… for ever.
Matt loves his in-laws. I love my in-laws. This is not based on actual events!” laughs Tyler Gillett, the co-director – with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin – of the scorching new comedy-thrillerhorror hybrid, Ready Or Not. It’s good to know, given what Grace (Samara Weaving) must face when she marries Alex (Mark O’Brien), one of the grown-up children from the obscenely wealthy Le Domas family.
As part of a longstanding tradition, any newcomer into the family must draw a card and play a game on their wedding night. The trouble is, Grace pulls a deadly round of hide and seek, in which she’s the sacrificial target. Why? Well, that’s to be revealed in a story first pitched to Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin (who collaborated on 2012’s V/H/S) several years back.
“We loved the idea of telling a story about these people who are so wealthy that they’re untouchable,” says Gillett. “That untouchable-ness is passed down from generation to generation, and it isn’t until an average person enters this world that it’s flipped upside down. The clash of those realities is essentially what propels the weirdness and the drama.”
A survival story, as Grace must outwit this crazed family until dawn, it’s also an amusing satire on the eccentricities of the rich. Think Trading Places, only with more blood. “It’s this sub-genre – the lengths people will go to get richer. And this movie falls into that category,” says Bettinelli-Olpin. “It’s how can I get more money? How can I get richer? Oh, I have to do this.”
With an eclectic cast, the standout is Andie MacDowell as matriarch Becky. Not known for her action scenes, the star jumped at the chance to get busy with her fists. “We didn’t realise but it was her first fight in a movie,” says Bettinelli-Olpin. “[She was saying,] ‘I’ve never thrown a punch!’ She just got into it.” As for nightmarish nuptials, Gillett reassures Teasers there’s no reason to be scared of going down the aisle. “Marriage,” he grins, “is a good thing!” OK, we believe you…
ETA | 27 SEPTEMBER / READY OR NOT OPENS NEXT MONTH.