The FilmCult of the DevilDeal with Satan. The Meaning of the Ending. Deadly hide and seek – the meaning of the film Ready or Not.
Today we have prepared for you a review of the horror film Ready or Not. We will understand its meaning and highlight all the interesting details that could slip past your eyes.
The film was released in 2019. It is difficult to attribute it to any particular genre – it stands somewhere on the verge of black comedy and thrillers.
The film tells about a young girl, Grace, who is preparing for her wedding with Alex, a member of an influential family. However, for this she needs to get acquainted with the relatives of the groom. But who knows how their meeting will turn out? If you haven’t watched the movie yet, we recommend a summary of the movie.
The meaning of the film Ready or Not
At first glance, the film looks like a typical horror movie: there are multiple murders due to an ancient curse. But upon closer inspection, you can notice the details that refer us to Satanism.
The Le Domas family has made a deal that every new member of the family has to play random fun. This was created in exchange for developing the clan’s business. Such a plot in horror is not new – it is enough to recall the same “Truth or Dare”, “Saw”. However, in this film, the game takes on a new meaning. Hide and seek here is children’s entertainment with adult rules.
The meaning of the film is that blind faith in one’s own power kills. The Le Domas family was sure they could escape the ancient curse. However, for not fulfilling the terms of the deal, they paid with their souls.
People are often confident that they can outsmart supernatural powers. But it is pride that leads to a fall – remember the story of the Devil. And so it happened: the Le Domas family paid for everything they did.
In this case, Grace looks like a person who has done justice. However, we will talk more about the role she played in the death of Le Domas.
The film is based on the fear of death and the worship of the cult of the Devil. The fear of one’s own death is the most irrational of human phobias. This is a natural fear, embedded in us by the instinct of self-preservation.
Cult of the Devil
The Le Domas family home looks like the Salvatore cottage from The Vampire Diaries. This is an old fashioned building with many rooms, a huge staircase. For the 21st century, the house looks aristocratic: there are chandeliers everywhere, huge curtains hang, there are no technologies – except for video surveillance.
The mansion even has a kitchen lift, which was popular in the 19th century. This suggests that the Le Domas family may be connected to the occult, as this house looks too old-fashioned for the modern world.
In fact, several centuries ago, the clan made a deal with a certain Le Bail. We assume that this was one of the human forms of the Devil. The essence of the deal was that Le Bail helps the family build a business, and the clan, in exchange for this, preserves the tradition.
A new member of the family undergoes a rite of passage: he pulls out a card with a game from an ancient box. The recruit must win, otherwise he will die. The box looks quite authentic thanks to carved wood, sophisticated technology. It is impossible to predict the next game that a beginner will come across. Grace comes across hide and seek.
It is interesting that here it is the cards that are used for selection, which are often used by magicians and fortune-tellers to perform rituals – a reference to Tarot cards. They were invented in the Middle Ages, like the crossbow and bow used by the family during the game.
Le Domas have been following this tradition for several centuries, and the heroine of the film is forced to play deadly hide and seek. In the modern world, such traditions seem ridiculous, but for the clan, this is the most important deal, in which their souls are at stake.
However, the family does not want to immediately kill Grace: for the ritual, she must be alive. Under the terms of the deal, the family must kill the bride before dawn. Here, too, an interesting reference is that most satanic rituals are performed at night. It is believed that at midnight the strongest energy for rituals.
In one of the moments we are shown a close-up of a black goat. This is also an allegory for the Devil, because in culture he is often depicted as a horned creature.
Another confirmation of the cult of Satan is the ritual performed on Grace. At this time, she lies on the pentagram, and family members read a spell in Latin, invoking Satan. This is a direct reference to the personality of the Devil, although before that, family members spoke only about Mr. Le Bail.
Deal with Satan
There is another theory according to which the main character is an instrument of retribution. Maybe Grace was originally needed to get rid of the Le Domas family? It is possible that everything was conceived so that all members of the clan would eventually die.
The sacrifices and desires of the spoiled family meant that it was easier for the Devil to get rid of Le Domas than to continue to fulfill the deal. We must not forget that Satan is also called the King of Lies – which means he may not fulfill the terms of the deal.
It is possible that the souls sold to the Devil turned out to be rotten from the inside. Therefore, Satan decided that the clan was absolutely useless. The devil loves to tempt pure people, and the Le Domas family is rotten from the inside because of the many sacrifices.
Here we noticed a reference to Goethe’s Faust: God and Satan made a deal, according to which the latter was to tempt a pure soul. If the Devil wins, then he takes this person for himself. If not, then the soul goes to God.
The devil nods to the heroine – it means he approves of what happened. Grace could make a deal with Satan for a rich inheritance. She initially knew that the Le Domas family wanted to kill her, however, Grace knew that she would win in a deadly fight. After all, the Devil himself helped her.
In this case, all the experiences and traumas of Grace are a pretense, because she initially realized that she could win. Let’s pay attention to the appearance of the main character. She has blonde hair and a white wedding dress that makes her look like an angel. But Satan was originally an angel.
The filmmakers shared that 17 different variations of the dress were used for filming. Thus, the authors have achieved the effect of obsolescence of clothing. With each murder, the heroine’s dress becomes darker, perhaps this means the penetration of dark forces into her soul. At the end of the movie, the dress looks black because of the blood.
The meaning of the ending Ready or Not
At the end of I Go Searching, the Le Domas believe the curse has been lifted. However, it could only be removed if Grace was sacrificed. However, the heroine survived. An attempt to outwit the Devil himself turned sideways to the family – they all died. During their death, the heroine laughs, because she won.
In the final minutes of the film, Grace emerges from the burning house and lights up a cigarette. The cigarette in this moment is a symbol of freedom and the beginning of a new life.
Interestingly, female smoking has long been banned. In the 20th century, manufacturers decided they were missing out on a lot of profits. Cigarettes were sold to women as a statement of equality. They became an allegory for the torch of freedom, that is, an illustration of female power.
Grace won and felt her power – she fulfilled the Devil’s conditions and became a rich heiress. What do you think about the movie Ready or Not?
