Overthinking About "Ready or Not"

Crysda: Hello and welcome to Overthinking It on Purpose. I am your host, Krista, and this is my co-host and sister Kira. Say hi. Hello. Are you ready to overthink some media? We are. Great. so we are gonna start this week with Ready or Not. This was first released in 2019. The writer is Guy Busick and R Christopher Murphy. The director is Matt Bettinelli Ulpin and Tyler Gillette, I'm guessing on all the names, notable actors are Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, and Mark O'Brien. honorable mention is Andy McDowell, who I love. the summary is a bride's wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game. So I've been watching this movie for a very long time, and I've rewatched it many times since the second one came out. but you just watched it for the first time. This morning. This morning. what were your initial thoughts? That it was f funnier than I was expecting. and like there was ways I was laughing I wasn't expecting. and so you know, it has a good reputation and has been out for a while, so that was mostly it, 'cause I was familiar with the rest of it. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, it's definitely a great horror comedy and actually I think we're starting with a lot of horror comedies for the podcast. Which I think is really funny. but I really love this movie for a lot of reasons. First of all, Samara is an awesome Scream Queen. She's one of my favorite Scream Queens. She's been in a lot of different movies and shows, probably some that will also appear on this podcast. I'd love to do the babysitter actually. that is Samara Weaving. I know. that's another one I've only seen once a while ago. so I'm trying to place her in my head. Yeah. And it's just like, no, you're not going to. You didn't watch it recently enough. I didn't watch it recently enough. so this is the story of someone getting married and a wedding and obviously how Crazy that can get very quickly. And of course, it's a horror and it's a comedy, so you're talking about, you know, Satanists who are killing people to keep their wealth, which of course feels like a crazy circumstance, but I would say that in a lot of ways, one of the reasons why Righty Or Not is such a great movie is because it's a perfect example. Of how men lie to their fiancés before they get married. And you actually see this in the movie where Grace goes downstairs and Alex is talking to his father, and you can see him constantly trying to pull Grace away from his family members because he's afraid of what they're going to tell her. And Obviously we know that it's because he doesn't want her to know that they're a bunch of devil worshiping, you know, people killers. but when you're talking about reality, we so often experience women finding out who their husband is for the first time after the wedding. This is probably one of the fastest flips of finding out who your husband is after your wedding. It definitely happens very quickly. And of course Course we know that he said they they've been dating for like a year and a half, so hey, she got it faster than most women do. Yeah, exactly. And of course we know from the beginning of the movie that he only really asked her to marry him because he knew that she would leave him. That's in the script a couple of times that he knows that she desperately wanted to be a part of a family, that she grew up in foster care and wanted something. That was something. One thing that that I thought about while I was watching this like, well, here's the societal implications and the societal forces that marriage has that it forces on mostly women is that the only way you can have a real family is if you're married. It's like no, if you have a relationship with the family that like you know, she is family with Alex, she's already family with him, and so there doesn't need to be a marriage. Right. And but that's society. Mm-hmm. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, and I mean it's always a really good portrayal when you're watching horror. I know this is gonna come up so many times in this podcast, but horror is one of the better genres when it comes to women. we get a little bit more interesting characters, fully built out women characters, you see that more in horror. And yeah, we know that. Yeah, like when you have the final girl trope versus say action where it's just the love interest and the damsel in distress to be rescued. Right, exactly. She actually has value. And I'm sure it's something that we will talk about, is that the final girl trope is just as misogynistic as most of the other tropes to do with women. Well, especially when they may usually make it the virgin and she's not allowed to have had sex or do drugs or she's the pure one. Yeah. And so like the fact that it's rooted in that, you know, back from like, Halloween and Friday the thirteenth and Nightmare on Elm Street. Like those three really were the sources of the final girl trope. And like when you make it very contingent on Virginity? That's inherently misogynistic. Yeah, definitely. And I do think it's funny that with Grace, she literally says boneton in like the first part of the movie. I don't remember that. they make a joke when they're in Alex's bedroom that He talks about how his family are used to like two year courtships and not an eighteen month bonathon that they did. Totally didn't do that one. I get it. You know, like in the fact that she later said, like, we you know, could live in sin or something. But you know, so she ain't no virgin. No, yeah, exactly. She's not a virgin. She's very I would say pretty She's rough. Yeah, yeah. She she's very like realistically rough and and like kind of gritty. I love her so much. She has tattoos on her fingers. she just doesn't fit in. And that's what makes that moment with Alex's mother kind of feel like something special. Her name is Becky, which really feels weird to me that Andy McDowell's character's name is Becky. I didn't even really know that until I looked her up on IMDb today. And I've been watching this movie four years. but she talks to Alex's mother, and that's what I'm gonna call her, and says I wasn't blue blooded enough to fit in with this family and you don't have to be. All we care about, all we know is that Alex loves you. And that's all that matters. And in some ways that's true, I think. and if it hadn't gone The other way maybe that would have been true, but it doesn't matter because once that card gets pulled, no one's feelings about Grace matter anymore because from what they believe and what we know at the end of the movie, it's her or them. And so it doesn't matter how they actually feel about her once that card is pulled. I just had a thought of like why not actually marry somebody you don't care about just in case they get the one bad card that sure like, you know, it's like, once a decade they have to do a sacrifice. Yeah. and so like that's that's what the math said in my brain. That's pretty close. And 'cause it had only happened like within the twenty years before when Alex and and Daniel were kids. We're kids, yeah. And so but it's just like that's the only bad card. Yes. And that results in sacrifice. Exactly. And so it's not like every other person is getting sacrificed. Right. so Have somebody you don't care about be the person you marry, and then have the person you actually love be your side piece. Yeah. I mean You wouldn't have to lose somebody you loved anymore. That's there's a guide. There's something out against that in the bylaws, though. I mean Mr. Labelle has some pretty strict guidelines. So someone's dying for sure. But like but then But then you don't care. And you're still gonna trick your spouse. And honestly, marry a man and let them die instead of some poor woman. Women are gonna die so often in marriages. You don't gotta make it worse by supporting Satan. so something else I wanted to talk about a little bit is that the women in the family are really devout. Compared to the men in the family, except for the father Tony. Tony's very devout. Like you can tell. And I wouldn't even call him devout. yeah. No, like that's the thing is like he was the first one to say, let's not or like we don't have to hold to tradition that or like he was like cherry picking about what they had to follow. They all cherry pick. That's what I'm talking about. Okay. Very, very specifically killing her. I think that the only thing according to The canon that we have, like the myth that we have for the movie is the only thing that really matters is that the girl dies. Or the the man because we know that Aunt Pauline's husband died. Yeah, the the spouse dies. The spouse dies. everything else is whatever the hell they want. Right. But yes, Tony is very, very quick to be like, meh, whatever. turn on the cameras, go outside, whatever. We'll do what we have to do because it all that matters is that we live. In the morning. And in a lot of ways, the women of the family are very devout for various reasons. and I want to actually liken this to how more women are actually religious than men are. And with Aunt Helene. We know that she's devout because she had to watch her husband get murdered because he was the sacrifice. But also she was she said that she was the only one who's actually seen the guy. I think the only one who's ever seen the guy is Alex. Since her. okay, cool. I don't know how I missed that, but good job. I was just testing you. Yeah, yep. far passing grades. A plus. so yeah, like missing the the bonathon. so Aunt Helene she's that person who has proof of her devotion. Right. she had to give the sacrifice in her husband and she has seen Mr. Labelle. And then we see with Charity, Daniel's wife, she just desperately cannot be poor again. And Daniel hates her so much. Yeah. It's so crazy how much he hates his wife. it was so frustrating to me that it was only that she was poor. That too. Like and here's here's the thing, right? Because Grace is not like other girls. Right. So what you're looking at, I mean, Becky, the mother, she also was like, Well, my blood wasn't blue enough and Charity was like, Well, I can't be poor again and then you see Fitch, who's just a dumbass. but he's not one of the women, so it doesn't matter. Yep. you see these spouses and you're like, Okay, so are the only reason these women are here is because they can be rich? And to be fair That's a really fair point because we still live in a patriarchy. We still live in a world where women who are poor are in more danger than women who are rich. Right. These women are in just as much danger because they're literally married to murderers. but at the same time They're not gonna get killed right away. they are beloved within their own family. Not by their partners sometimes. But it it is interesting to me. you're you're kinda like, okay, how much has love ever had to do with it? for sure. And so from both sides. the people that are already rich have their boxes to check. and, you know, there's the the side of the people that are worse off. Yeah. Don't wanna be that that anymore. Yeah, definitely. And so it's just like how many genuine relationships are there between or between anybody rich, whether they married into that rich that money or that they were the side that already had it. Definitely. And that's actually why I think post-deconstruction from being male-centered and from a lot of misogyny, I first of all can't stand rom-coms that will come up in future episodes. I know. We're so looking forward to it. but also when you're looking at power imbalances, money is such a huge power imbalance in relationships. So when you're talking about people who are fucking wealthy, it doesn't matter where the partner is before they meet them, before they get involved with them. the rich partner is always going to be the one with the most power and with the most to lose in a lot of ways. Right. But that also means that the person coming into the family is in danger, essentially. They're at risk, they're always at risk. I love to see what their prenups look like. Like their prenups would have been crazy. I imagine could have been like Mr. Pim's prenups from the fall of the House of Usher. man. Which will be talked about in this podcast. Because we both are obsessed with Mike Flanagan, and that's gonna happen. And we have to talk about the servants here in a little while, which is why I was thinking about Pim as well. But with these characters, you're talking about so many different power imbalances, ratcheted up to a thousand. Yeah. And so You're dealing with what we deal with as like just our normal people in heterosexual relationships and marriages, And then you add in Satan worshippers and you're like, you know, might as well go a step further. That's the tamest part of them. Legit. I don't know why, but like and it's probably because of how silly the movie is. But them being Satan worshippers is honestly the most unsurprising part of it. and that's the interesting thing is like because they've only had to kill one time like for some of these people, they actually haven't had to kill before. Yeah. and so you know, the last time was that the one that the the movie opened on. And so they're not actually all a whole bunch of murderers. True. They are just aware that It's a possibility where half of the people, because we live in modern times and they haven't really directly seen the results or the consequences of if they don't go through with it, where they don't buy they they're not fully drinking the Kool-Aid, but they gotta behave around their parents. And so, you know, like where you see how you know, where even though Alex has seen the guy, I just determined not to remember his name. That's fine. And you know, and Daniel, like, he believed it a little bit more, but he just didn't care. Yeah. Like he, you know, it's the pressure of family is like, you know, and then like the Emily, the sister, she's all in. I was that was next, obviously. Like, you know, she is absolutely all in. Girls be Right, and she's all in, but she's the most fucked up. Yeah, definitely. She comes in high. Yeah. She's like wiping coke off her face. It's like, okay, and this is what it does to you. Yes. Which again reminds me of the fall of the House of Usher where we see what money does to these people. And even Fitch, who is kind of like his wife's keeper. he is useless to the rest of the family, but it's his job to keep Emily kind of normal, but they call him useless, but the first thing he says almost when he is introduced is We're late because we couldn't take coach anymore. And I'm like, shut up. Like it's just it's a good reminder that these people have no idea what it's like to be normal anymore. And then that's why they're there. Like and you kinda gotta wonder with Fitch especially, like there's that you can have that perception of like he's overweight. Yeah, yeah. He's a little chunky. and so did she go for him because you know, it's like because it is emiles? my gosh Emily. Emily, my gosh. And you know, it's like did she pick him because he would be a tryhard? Yeah, probably. like this woman is way out of my league because she's rich and pretty and skinny and all that so I wonder if she went with him because he'd be very easy to manipulate. I mean it's more than possible, but to be fair, most men are easy to manipulate. Yeah, but like he's the only one like we don't see in charity or in grace or even in Becky that these are women who are easy to manipulate. No, you're right. It's absolutely true. charity definitely feels like someone who is very capable of making the choice to stay because that's exactly what she wanted. Right. except for Fitch, like these people are genuinely like, no, we wanna be here. Right. And that's why I think it's so interesting that they're actually like more all in than the brothers are. Right. The brothers in particular ones that are actually blood descendants of this. The blood descendants of this, Daniel and Alex are the the most like waffly dudes ever. And to me that really felt like them trying to make the guys the good guys. Yes. It that's what it felt like the whole time. Yeah, I I had that thought too as I was watching. It's like, so you're gonna make the girls crazy. Yep. And the guys be like, you know, where Daniel straight up says like I'm a coward. And He's the first one to flake, and then you have Alex who essentially pulls the generic male thing of I got rejected, let's kill her. Yeah, that's exactly it. That's a hundred percent it. Like he bleed fully into the you know, the common woman fear of if I reject this man, he will kill me. Yeah, and that's because there happens to be Satan involved in this, does not change that that's ultimately what it is. Yeah, she rejected him. As you know, was correct. And so he's ready to kill her. Yeah, it it definitely didn't take him very long. And I thought about this this morning, and I don't think I actually put it in my notes. but that it was also interesting that his love for Daniel when Daniel died is the big thing. That's what kicked him off. That kicked him off. Yeah. Like he was ready and willing to die for her until Daniel died. And do Think that it's valuable to mention that in a story that's supposed to be about love between man and a wife. His love for his brother is more compelling than the love he has for Grace. It was more affecting than I'm going to stab my wife that I just five minutes ago said I would abandon the family for her. And Daniel literally died saving Grace. Yep. He saved her from charity, his own wife. Yep. So, like in that moment, Daniel's death is meaningless because the thing that Daniel desperately wanted was Grace to survive because he loves Alex and didn't want Alex to lose her. So it's so frustrating in those moments to be like, why are you using like your opportunity in a movie To be like, okay, we're gonna make these men out to be like, the poor guys who are like just trying to do their best. And then you're gonna make the women like these crazy, crazy people. and even Grace's character is portrayed kind of crazy because yeah, they're trying to murder her. She is in the midst of the trauma happening. And so, but it's like it is one thing that I appreciated. And I don't remember if you've said this like over the years of you seeing it that I haven't. But how savage they let her look. I don't know if savage is the right word. she was pretty messed up. I know, but it's just like where it kinda reminded me of the ending on the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which I haven't actually watched but I've seen the clips of where she's kinda letting out this manic laugh because she lived. Yes. And so like and there's those few moments throughout where Grace is just like letting out these just guttural screams and the maniacal laughs because like what else can you do? Like her brain is doing everything it can to try and just survive. Yeah. And so I really liked that they let the person who started in a wedding dress on her wedding day. look that primal. Primal is the word I was wanting to go for, not savage. Very different. Very different. And so That was one thing that I really appreciated. Is her actually being in the trauma of it does change the perception of anything she shows along those lines that can be like crazy. Yeah. it's completely different and is received differently, or perceived differently from what we're seeing from literally any of the other women. Yeah. But then they go to the extreme. Extreme with the other women, and then sure there might be some of the comedy aspect of that coming out. It's just like we're we're making this a comedy, right? But let's make Emily a Coke fiend and just make her so unhinged that she shoots the face off so and that's the first thing that happens. That girl wants to, she was like, I'ma just lose my mind here. Yeah, I and actually but she's just like but that's the thing, it's like she wants. To please daddy. Yeah, a hundred percent. But that's what it comes down to. So she's doing it because daddy said this is what we have to do and that's what we have to do. And one of the other things is that this this might be a jump, but like the servants' deaths are actually really interesting part of the story to me because it really shows, first of all, how they truly feel about women. Because and to be fair, we're talking about rich people, so the people who serve them are non human to them. Yep. But when you're talking about people who sacrifice goats as a huge part of their life, and then they dump the maids' bodies in the goat pits is crazy to me. And this is the other thing that kind of came to me about Pim. Is that Stevens felt to me like Pim from Usher. Yes. because Stevens was getting to do crazy, crazy things like and he for no reason. Like, yeah, no, you kinda get the the vibe that like he's as close to a family member as he can get. Like he was essentially family adjacent. Like his family has been serving this rich family for a long time. Yeah. And so they are essentially family. Yeah, yeah, and that would make sense. Whereas the maids are like, one of them was like he just likes the way I dance, I'm not actually a maid. And when one of them dies Two of the guys are like, she was my favorite. So gross. and the other thing that I made a note of because it's just so stupid, is that I think it was after the second or third death. No, it must have been after the second death, Tony, the dad, like, She's taking us out one by one I'm glad that got me too, because it's like I it was it was after the the the servant that like, she they like they just like the way I dance. Yeah. And so I was like, that's her first kill Your daughter has taken out more people than her. Yeah, it was it was so funny 'cause I was like, okay, first of all, you lunatics If you don't want them to die, don't keep them in the house. Why were they still there? Like that's what got me. It's like, why are they even still there? I get it for Stevens because like he has that. He has a lot of control and commitment to it. Like he was the one in charge of the cameras and stuff like that. He was the one who shut everything down and locked up the house. Like that, like that's That's a part of his job, essentially. That's his thing. He's in on it. Why was everybody else there? I don't understand why the kids had to be there in the past or the present. You gotta indoctrinate them. And that's what we see with both that was honestly my next thing. Obviously, you can see my outline. I'm like trying not to it's hard not to. is the kids in both timelines. You see Alex scream, he's here, he's here. And you realize how young he is. Right. And you're like, good, indoctrination. and then Georgie takes a gun that his mother dropped and shoots Grace through the hand. It was kind of like I was Of I was like, okay, of course, like the kids gonna give away because the kids like the from the first moment those kids are introduced, you're like, they're all in. They're doing because they have well, they have no reason to think otherwise. And they're being taught by the Cokehead. So like they are Emily's kids and she's all in to please Daddy. Yes. And so she has no reason to do anything but bring them in full force. Yeah, definitely. And so maybe to the point where she was like looking at her brothers and saying they went wrong or astray from the flock because of this and this. I'm gonna fix that. and so they don't have that potential separation that Alex and Daniel have. Yeah. And that's an interesting thing that Daniel didn't have that the extreme Separation that Alex did, but he was still the one who actually pulled away. Yeah. Which he says. Like he's like, Alex is the one that got out. Yeah, and like so Daniel was in the middle of it the whole time, and he's still the one who actually opposed the family. Yeah. It's actually interesting, and obviously we don't know this to be true or not, but I'm gonna headcanon right now that Emily got married first, even though she's the youngest. Right. Because That is pretty normal. Yes. Girls, especially in families like that, especially if we're talking about something like a cult, which means that they have a very religious foundation, because basically the same thing. Yeah, they're they're the same thing only with label. instead of God. that was one thing that got me like, why are they saying Satan? They're worshipping Labelle. And that that is kind of funny to me because I've been trying really hard not to mention the second one, but the sequel is up later. again, I actually have not watched it. Which we haven't watched it yet, so I'm not gonna mention too much. But it might be that Labelle is Satan. but again, I'm not a hundred percent sure. It could be that he is a demon yeah, we gotta Google now. I'm going to Google if the name has any meaning. and if maybe there's like 'cause I haven't heard Lebale before as a reference of like a demon or something like that. it just might be a different mythology than one that I've heard. Yeah, it's more than possible. Honestly when it comes to you know, heaven and hell, God and Satan, there's so many different names and belief systems that all kind of fall under the same thing. So, Google says Take with a grain of salt. Right. that like just from purely French for the meaning it translates to the lease or the rental agreement. but they put in like for specifically the movie reference, for possible hidden meaning, is the name is an anagram for Belial. Which is an ancient name for the devil. Like I was trying to work out is like, is it an anagram? it obviously ain't Satan. Yeah, exactly. But yeah, Belial I've absolutely heard, as another name for the devil. Well that's good to know. So there we go. So you learn something new about you know They did actually put some thought into it. Devil cults every day. actually, if you're learning something new about Devil Cult every day, maybe change your algorithm. Yeah, maybe stop. So we are kind of winding down. We kind of got through killing your spouse on their your wedding night. Sincerely. so actually, I do want to talk about Grace being a really funny person and some of the funny moments in the movie. Because we got kind of through what I wanted to get through. but I really love her sitting in the dumbbell. Dumbwaiter and she's like, Grace, what did you do on your wedding night? I sat in a dumbwaiter. like you can take that as if you me like I sat in a dumbwaiter. Like let's like person whose brain does not usually go dirty. Yeah. It's like oops. Oops. one of my other favorite things about it is The conversation with Justin in the car. yeah. my g I wanted her to like I wanted her to like hit the button as like as Steamer was like shattering the window and for it to be Justin again and he hears that. Yeah it was like I knew it wouldn't because that would validate yes what she was saying. Right. And so then like how done he was. He's like, this is the third call tonight. it makes me feel like the writers definitely worked in a call center maybe at some point in their life. Because that was so real. They had Justin down to a science. And it was so funny because like I was wondering is it gonna be like an automated response. Right. That's possible too. No, it was like it was really interesting that like when he answered because he was so mechanical like he was in his customer service voice. Definitely and he like it was only towards the end of the call that I'm like, okay, it is a real person. Right, right. rather than being something automated. Yeah. And so it was like, my gosh, he's talking to a machine. no no no He just has really good Barbie voice. He has a great Barbie voice. Justin is very good at his job. He should get five stars. Yeah. just because this happened to be an extreme situation. And to be fair, the car had been reported as stolen. It's true. He's just doing his job. Yeah, so like he doesn't actually have a reason to believe otherwise when it's coming from a stolen car. Exactly. and he did still call the cops. He did. Sure, you catch the car beef or whatever. But hey, the cops. Still got cold. Yeah. She she still got what she wanted, sorta. Yeah. So we'll we'll give Justin that he's a great customer service guy. Justin's doing his best. He's doing his best. I also really love the scene where she gets through the fence and it scratches her back. Yeah. the fact that she was like, help me, help me to the guys in the car, and they're like, get out of the road. And she's like, fucking rich people. That was so funny. And I just like I just really like that Samara as Grace can really hold that horror comedy at the same time. I think that she deserves a lot of love for most of her movies and she's been in a show that I know of, but most mostly I know her from movies. She really does hold that ground of like silly but this is serious at the same time. I think she did does that really well. Yeah like I think it just something about her performance like makes it very believable that this is an extreme situation and a lot of people's natural tendency to handle a stressful situation is comedy. it can very easily like when you're performing it like you know actor that it can very easily be lost. It can lose a lot of that that realistic feel. Yeah. And I do think that she pulls off or like there's just something about how she performs it that it does come across as more genuine as like, she's handling this the best way, the only way she can. And it happens to be comedic and so she's not like she's not going over the top about it. But like and I think it's it Does kind of connect back is that like letting her kind of have that primal hint to what she's doing. That is just like that was one of the moments of where I was really appreciating how primal they were letting her get. there is such desperation to what she's doing, and it's just like honestly, who wouldn't do that? Like, have that explosion of rich people and like cussing them out as they're driving away Because like she literally just cut her back open. Yes. and trying desperately to survive. Trying to get out fast enough so that she could get help. Yes. And they just sped past. Or no, this is the malicious part. Is that they stalked. And then drove away. And you know that was just so that they didn't swerve out of the way and risk scratching up their precious little Whatever it was. Yeah, definitely. And speaking of explosions, we have to talk at least momentarily about the ending. Because to me, like the comedy of the movie, it really, really, really, really comes to light with the explosions of all of the family. I need to like I need to double check the it kind of bothered me that it was random. that's Explosions were random because and I was I was thinking about I thought about this even before we mentioned it now about the fall of the House of Usher. It's like, hey, at least those death or like that. In an order. Yeah, they're in an order. except for one. the granddaughter. Yes. Because they were closing up the bloodline. And so it should have been the granddaughter first, even though she has such an amazing death. Yeah. I hate that very emotional. Emotional cannot watch without crying death. We cannot talk about Usher right now. We're not talking Usher. We're not talking Usher. Just happens to keep coming up. But it's just like that's the one that's so directly connected. Definitely. Of where like it's about a family thing, and so you know, it's closing up, but like honestly it was too in the middle because I'm like, okay, okay, this either needs to have some sort of order. like oldest to youngest, youngest to oldest. Something actual blood relatives and then people who just happen to marry in, you know, stuff like that. or it needs to be more random than it was. Right. Like blow somebody up in the middle of a sentence. But exactly they got through like everybody got through and it could have been more comedic than this. That's true. That's very true. It Yeah, like and I was like, they blew up the kids outside of the room so they didn't show a kid blowing up playing it. Yeah. I I do think that that it's funny and I I have said this about other movies where you have to know your lines of like your comedy to horror ratio and sometimes You gotta make the decision be like, do we want to push it and have a kid blow up on screen? Yeah, and I was like I get why they didn't. Yeah. and like, you know, there's this stuff with with Spartacus to make a huge jump. where in the season one finale they wouldn't let Crixis stab Lucretia in the stomach. Or like there they were fighting him doing that, you know, which killed the unborn she was carrying. Yes. Nothing about it could be on screen. okay. And so like that. Yeah, yeah. No, they were like, even though it was stabbing a pregnant woman, yeah, and it was literally stabbing the baby to kill the baby. Yeah. And so they would not like that was the best they would let Stephen Denite get away with was they still show they let the the there's the sound of the stabbing and then like that's all they were allowed to show And so but it's kind of along the lines of like you are going to the extremes of exploding their bodies. Yeah. And you're going to that extreme, you might as well go all in. Yeah, you can go all in. And so like they could have gone a little bit more all in what we're here for. Yeah, no not so much that like actually showing the kids on screen. I like that that doesn't actually bother me that they did or not. Yeah. But like lean more like you know, have it be a little bit more random. Yeah. like really cut somebody off in the middle of something. That would have been funny. That would have been great. That would've been perfect. I really love that Alex doesn't explode until she says I want a divorce. Yeah. because I really feel like and we actually know this because Grace obviously sees Labelle in the chair. Right. So the idea is that he's sitting there, he's watching this all kind of happen. When I was watching it I looked away. no. At that part At the exact time. At the exact time and so like I heard a reaction. Yeah. I'm like I had to take it back. I was like, I was like, oops. My bad. It was just funny because like at this point, until they start blowing up, no one knows if it's actually real. Right. And people start blowing up, she's having her crazy cackling moment because obviously this that's what that's what she was doing. Why this is the only what else can you do? And poor girl needs a cigarette. So bad, like the whole time. And like she's just gone through like the worst night of her life, which was supposed to be one of those best nights of your life, which is the thing that we get told. That we should get married and we should be a wife and then we're happy and we're perfect now. The best day of your life. Best day of your life. And you know, not like that is peak is your wedding day. Exactly. Everything goes downhill from there. Like you will never get better than your wedding day. And she's just had this crazy, crazy, crazy experience. And I I love the idea that Labelle is recognizing how badass she is. Because sh he like kinda nods at her. Yep. And you know, spoilers for movie two, not you know, obviously we're still dealing with Labelle in the second movie, so it'll be fun to see that and respond to that as well. but I've talked about a couple of scenes that were like my favorites, but besides what we talked about, did you have any like really fun moments for you? not Really? Like that was kind of an interesting thing that there wasn't a standout moment, like you know, that moment that I'll like watch over and over again that like every time I watched it it'll be like repeating that moment a few times. I think this this was one that that I kinda thought on was because I didn't know what Grace's kill count was gonna be. Yeah. And so I was very happy that her kill count was very low. Yeah, definitely. she only like her punching the kid was hilarious. I would have punched that kid too. I have punched that kid too, but like the that kind of like that might have had some influence over me thinking that like the kids you could have blown them up on screen on screen they showed them they showed her literally punch a child unconscious so you can show him blow up it's fine that was funny but I thought I was thinking about it and that it came to mind was like does she have Another kill besides the maid. Well, I don't even count the maid. I know what and the there's a reason I'm asking double check. So she killed Becky because she bulletined her to death. And I No. I consider Becky her only genuine kill. I appreciated that because it kinda reminded me of an issue I ended up having with enough. so you know, like late two thousands Jennifer Lopez movie where battered wife like learns to essentially manipulate the system to kill her abusive ex husband. Not even ex because he wouldn't let her get divorced. but one thing that I ended up like when I went back to it like a couple years ago, after having not watched It for a long time, is that I really actually don't like how close they came to her actually murdering him. Yeah, yeah. like ultimately, it wasn't cold blood murder, yeah. That how she actually, like, you know, like there was a time he was down and she could have smashed his face, yeah, and killed him. and so they didn't take it that far, but she did knock him. Him off the the landing and so and he fell to his death. Right. That is still directly responsible for his murder when they really could have like they could have shifted it a little bit so that she didn't actually murder him. Yeah. That he accidentally fell to his death. Sure. And that it wasn't directly her action. I do actually have an issue with that. and so because it's crossing the line. Yeah. I think and like sure it's Cuthardic Cartharnic I had lethargic one through my head. That was wrong and it messed me up. So thank you. Yeah. So you know, like there's that catharsis about it of like you know, she did get like she did right things with herself and you know for herself and her child, but killing somebody is huge. Definitely. And so you know, it's just like because she had like a long time to train and prepare and all. this was not in the moment this was premeditated. Like I'm almost for the death penalty on that when it's premeditation. Yeah. And so but Which is different than with this. And in the moment, like she's very much in the moment, if she didn't kill Becky, she was going to die. She was gonna die. And so this is literally somebody trying to kill her. Actively trying to kill her. And and so like the fact that like and then her other kill was completely accidental. Yeah, yeah. And so like it is one of those things that like, yeah, maybe I'm like towing being hypocritical about it, but I don't think so because it's like it is a very solid line in like what's making the difference of like I'm for this or I'm not yeah and so like I did appreciate that not only was her kill count officially one yes yeah so like she accidentally happened like you know user error on the other one not knowing how it worked is not the same. Girl don't be climbing in a dumb waiter if you don't know how to work a dumbwaiter. Don't stick Head out. Yeah. Like lady it's a dumb waiters. Keep your head in. I don't I don't wanna But you've not seen Final Destination? I don't want to victim blame, but that was a rough one. But you know, so like the fact that you know that her kill count was only one and that it was you know, it was one of the most devout, like actively making sure this happens character. Mm-hmm. and so like I appreciated that. Yeah, well it makes sense. that moment between Becky and Grace where she kills her is a really poignant moment because Becky of all of them is the one that is really bringing her in close. Yes. Like not just because she wants her son to come home, but she also really sees herself in Grace. That's so obvious. Like she literally says it. Yeah. And like it was one of the very few things it's like okay she's actually being genuine about like she genuinely cares about Grace. And so having that moment where you realize that you're like Well, for one, Becky has to choose Grace or her family. Right. And Grace has to choose herself or for living. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. It's not even just her family. It's her life on the line. Yeah, there's that extra aspect to the ones that are devout like like Becky. Yeah. Is that she does believe that if they don't do this, she will die. Yeah. And I do like the addition of Like Alex talking about a few family members who died because they didn't get married, or Tony talking about families married outside of the rules. Yes. Or Tony talking about families who burned in fires because the person survived. Right. I really like that little bit of world building kind of sprinkled in. Yeah, no, like and it was a really good way of doing it the way they presented it was like, that's just confirmation bias. Yeah, totally. Like you totally the there's these examples but stuff like that happens every day. just because it happens to these people that are It doesn't have to do with Satan. Right, yeah. It doesn't immediately mean Satan. So it's just like, there's just these examples and we don't actually know anything for sure. so it's like so it was a really good way of spinning confirmation bias. Definitely. and so that it could still be up in the air of whether or not this is real. Yeah, it was one of the things I really liked about the movie that it was like I said before, it was right up until that first person exploded. Yeah. That you're like, it's not real or it is real. Yep. And it it just made for a really fun Yeah. Climax of the movie. It kind of made me think about knock at the cabin. Knock at the Cabin. and That's on my list. Okay. Okay, should I continue should I No you you're fine. Okay. so like it's the same thing where it's in question the whole time 'cause like this is a whole if we don't do this sacrifice thing, then the apocalypse will happen. Right. And so at the end of the movie it's all up in question the entire time as to whether or not like these invaders did set this up in advance and if they're just lying to get away with killing or if it's really this apocalyptic thing will happen if the sacrifice doesn't happen and then it's confirmed at the very end that it was all true and stuff like that. I hated that. I did too I was actually just wondering. Yeah no like I think It might have just been because it was a little more biblical. that could have been the extent of it. But it's just like, but I also kind of didn't feel like that it being actually real fit. I thought it was I thought it would have been a better reveal that they were just off their rockers. Yeah, I actually like you have so like, and especially when you're looking at stuff where you have where I think where you have like Rupert Grint and Dave Bautista having some of the performances. Performances I've ever seen from them, and sure I don't watch a lot of them, but I th like Dave Butis especially he did such a great job, he did an amazing job in that like his performance was so profound in that movie. and then like I wanted it to be fake, yeah, and like I wanted it to be that these people were so lost in this deception of their own minds that they went to these extremes not only Sacrificing other people, but killing themselves for it and it not actually meaning anything. So, like just with this the setup and payout did not work, I don't think, in Knock at the Cabin. I think it hit perfectly in Ready or Not. this might be a weird thing, but I think that part of it could be the genre. That's a good point. It's in a comedy horror. horror movie it's honestly funnier if it's real. Yeah and like you know like because comedy is involved like going extreme like that like this is actually legit yeah like deal with the devil is an actual thing that happened like it fits so much better. That's a really good point. Yeah whereas and I don't want to get too far into it because we're about to close out this wonderful first episode but I do think that there are some reasons that it didn't work in knock at the cabin. I do think that part of it is is genre. the time that it came out. Yeah. and like you said, a part of it could be like the religious undert well it's not even an undertone. It's yes it's just like plastered across the wallpaper. Yep. so I do think that there are aspects to that that make the ending not as great of a follow through. Whereas in Ready or Not, it felt like a perfect ending to a great horror comedy movie. Yeah. Like it just it felt like it was a great follow through. And I'm sure that you guys can tell. Ready or Not is definitely one of those movies that I love. what we're trying to do obviously here is talk about not feminist issues, but basically how we see media and movies through the lens of, you know, relationships and a bunch of different things. But we also want to be able to talk about what we like about movies and what we don't like about movies. So I hope that you enjoyed this episode. I want to thank you if you made it this far. a big part of this podcast is starting a conversation. So please continue it with us in the comments or in a review or with your friends. Please share this with others. We are starting out on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, but more to come in the future. please recommend things for us to watch and respond to. We look forward to overthinking more with you in the future. Thank you. Thank you.