Till Death Do Us Part

To some, marriage may seem very daunting. I mean you’re promising your whole life to another person. Others will find it beautiful for the same reason, finally getting their happy ever after ending that they thought only existed in fairytales. However not all love stories ride into the sunset or even make it past their wedding night. Behind divorce, death is the second leading cause of a marriage ending. That’s not to say the bride is the one dying. We are talking about final girls here. In this post, we will be highlighting final girls who survive family violence and what these narratives say about women. In Ready or Not (2019), Grace le Domas (Samara Weaving) must survive a murderous game of hide and seek conducted by her in-laws on her wedding night. The le Domas family are incredibly wealthy due to their business in the game industry (think cards and board games, not video games). Every time a member of the family gets married, their spouse must draw a card from a puzzle box crafted by a man called Le Bail. Le Bail gave the le Domases their fortune in exchange for observing this tradition. Of course, Grace draws the most violent card which requires the family to hunt her down and sacrifice her or else they will die. If there’s one thing about rich people, they will do anything and everything to keep their money, even if it is sacrificing the newest addition to their family. The patriarch, Tony, and his wife Becky, spearhead the hunt. Tony’s sister, Aunt Helene, whose husband was killed in the same way thirty years ago, understands the sacrifice that must be made and she shows no remorse. Though it’s tradition, not all the family members are on board. Grace’s new husband, Alex, is seemingly incredibly conflicted between his love for his new wife and loyalty to his family. He spends most of the movie fighting his family and helping her escape, but when it came down to it in crunch time, he betrayed his new bride. Alex’s brother, Daniel, remains haunted from the first Hide and Seek game he witnessed as a child and helps Grace more than her own husband. His wife on the other hand is very hell bent on keeping her money and relishes in the hunt. Daniel and Alex’s sister is too high on cocaine to shoot straight and her husband spends most of the movie trying to figure out how to use a crossbow. The le Domases also have the help of their butler and maids who make matters worse for Grace.

With all the cards stacked against her, Grace survives to dawn and has a front row seat to the explosive end of the le Domas empire. No seriously, they all explode right in front of her. As soon as Grace learns she isn’t playing a normal game of hide and seek, she laces up her yellow converse, rips her dress, and arms herself. Throughout the whole movie, she had zero apprehensions or moral qualms about killing anyone, let alone her new family. Because of the society we live in rooted in patriarchy, women are often taught to tolerate abuse, especially from domestic partners or family members. For most of the movie, Alex didn’t want his new bride to be sacrificed, but in reality, he just wanted to be able to save her. He wanted a damsel in distress that would run to him in times of trouble. When he realized Grace didn’t need him anymore, he was perfectly fine with sacrificing her. Then Grace’s strength was shown when Alex pathetically attempted to get in her good graces after he tried to sacrifice her and she didn’t take him back. Grace is a great example of a new age final girl. She starts the movie as the prey, but ends as the predator. She’s not a pure, quiet girl who is constantly running away from the killers that eventually amounts to a final battle. She picks off the le Domases one by one because if they won’t stop, why should she? She regains control over her life after being put in this awful situation. She fought back and came out on the other side a survivor.