Movie Review

Ready or Not hides the scares in search for comedy

Samara Weaving in Ready or Not.

Photo by Eric Zachanowich

When a movie comes out of nowhere to be a success, you can be sure other filmmakers or studios will try to find a way to copy that success. Sometimes they pay heed to what made the first movie work, but more often they merely try to get the flavor of the original so that audiences will think they’re going to get the same experience.

It’s obvious from the start that Ready or Not is trying to give the flavor of Get Out, as Grace (Samara Weaving) is set to marry Alex (Mark O’Brien) at the estate of his rich family. Some of the family, including mom Becky (Andie MacDowell), father Tony (Henry Czerny), and brother Daniel (Adam Brody), are welcoming, but there’s just something a bit off about all of them.

Grace finds out just how off-kilter they are when, post-wedding, the family gathers to play a game. An old family tradition with supernatural elements dictates that, should a new member of the family draw a card calling for them to play hide-and-seek, the family must kill the new member or risk death themselves. Unaware of their nefarious intentions at first, Grace soon catches on and does her best to defend herself.

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and writers Guy Busick and Ryan Murphy (no, not that Ryan Murphy) structure the film so that comedy, rather than suspense, is at the forefront. Much of the acting is way over-the-top, superfluous characters are dispatched in brutal but funny ways, and the plot in general is treated in a light manner.

That approach works for a while, but the lack of intrigue starts to hinder the film’s effectiveness. Grace is plucky, but the number of times she escapes and manners in which she does so get increasingly suspect. There are only so many clever gags the filmmakers can include before it becomes obvious they’re trying to cover up holes of their own making.

The actors were apparently given free rein to indulge in theatricality, a method that works better for some than others. Weaving and Brody come off the best, with Weaving’s maniacal screams and Brody’s understated delivery both being appropriate for what their respective characters are enduring. MacDowell is good, but could have used a bit more menace, while Czerny needed to dial down the hamminess about 10 notches.

For late-summer entertainment, Ready or Not is not a horrible option, but it’s unlikely many people will go seeking for it again in the future.

Movie Review

Supergirl loses the sense of fun that Superman brought to DC Comics films

Milly Alcock in Supergirl

Photo courtesy of DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures

Milly Alcock in Supergirl.

The new Superman in 2025 brought with a renewed sense of optimism for, if not the concept of the comic book movie, then at least the DC Comics universe. After more than a decade of DC films that felt mostly creatively bankrupt, the leadership of James Gunn gave the story a sense of fun. That included the brief introduction of Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, who’s now getting her own showcase in, naturally, Supergirl.

When we first met her in Superman, Supergirl was in rough shape, arriving at the Fortress of Solitude visibly inebriated. Nothing has changed at the beginning of this film, save for her aimlessly traveling around the universe with her rambunctious dog, Krypto. One of her random stops puts her in the same bar as Ruthye (Eve Ridley), who is looking for help tracking down Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts) and a group known as the Brigands after they brutally murdered her family.

Kara is initially loath to offer aid, but when Krem shoots a poison dart into Krypto while escaping, her motivation goes way up, especially since Krem holds the antidote. Kara, with Ruthye doggedly following her, uses every means available to her to find Krem, a journey that is hampered by galaxies having different colored suns than the one that gives her powers, the yellow sun.

Directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira, the film is a big step back in the fun category, not least because Supergirl is deep in her feelings for much of the film. Her personal trauma, which is detailed in occasional flashbacks, gives a reason for her depression, but fails to land fully. The story seems to want everyone to be sad, as it includes a child trafficking ring and multiple instances of families being murdered.

Milly Alcock and Krypto in Supergirl.Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

To try to counteract that downer material, the filmmakers give Supergirl many opportunities to show off her fighting skills. While still CGI-heavy, the action scenes contain enough of a semblance of reality that they feel exciting. Unfortunately, this is undercut by the inclusion of several slow-motion sequences, giving the impression that the filmmakers didn’t trust the actors to deliver the goods on a consistent basis.

Superman (David Corenswet) makes a handful of appearances in the film, and while his presence is welcome given how well the character came across in the previous movie, it also doesn’t allow Supergirl to become her own person. Almost everything she does is colored by either her cousin or her parents, and since her powers are identical to those of Superman, there is very little that makes her story unique aside from how she’s dealing with the fallout.

Alcock (House of the Dragon, Sirens) gives an appealing performance despite her character being drunk and/or moody most of the time. She definitely sells what Supergirl is going through, so if given a better story in a future film, she’s proven her capability. Schoenaerts makes for a pretty good villain, although he’s aided by a look that includes a face full of studs. Jason Momoa has a memorable supporting role as the bounty hunter Lobo, even if his character doesn’t add much to the story.

While not a full-on disaster, Supergirl does not continue the momentum that Superman started. With a story that’s more concerned with showing audiences death scenes than a hero saving people, the film doesn’t seem to understand the appeal of a character like Supergirl or how to make her someone audiences will return to over and over again.

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Supergirl is now playing in theaters.

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