Ready or Not incorporates a demon named Mr. Le Bail who has a compelling presence despite only appearing in the movie for approximately two seconds. In the 2019 film Ready or Not, a woman named Grace (Samara Weaving) marries Alex Le Domas and gets wrapped up in his family’s twisted game tradition which requires her murder. The story has well-developed lore surrounding the family’s board game empire that’s both mysterious and enthralling.
The central figure in the lore of the schlocky horror-comedy Ready or Not is the mysterious Mr. Le Bail, who makes the Le Domas family abundantly wealthy and famous. Rather than revealing everything up front, the movie offers the basics of the lore at the start and divulges the rest slowly throughout the plot. Eventually, the protagonist Grace learns that Mr. Le Bail is actually a demon who struck up a Faustian deal with the Le Domas family’s great-grandfather, Victor Le Domas.
Mr. Le Bail Is An Anagram For The Demon Belial
Throughout the movie Ready or Not, the Le Domas family talks about a generous benefactor who helped their family start their board game empire. Victor Le Domas met Mr. Le Bail while working as a sea merchant. The two men bonded over their shared profession and interest in board games. They soon strike up a deal to help Victor follow his dream of starting a game business. By the start of the movie, Alex is the only person alive who has seen Mr. Le Bail, finding him on his throne at five years old.
Ready or Not‘s dialogue doesn’t provide a physical description of Mr. Le Bail; however, the board games produced by the family depict him as a man with a thin mustache, goatee, pointy beard, and horns. The benefactor finally makes an appearance in his chair at Ready or Not‘s ending. Mr. Le Bail has a sharp jawline, mustache, head of hair with a widow’s peak, and glowing eyes. He wears a poet blouse with a vest, as he would’ve back when he met Victor Le Domas. Notably, the demon doesn’t have a goatee or horns.
Based on the name anagram, Mr. Le Bail in Ready or Not is likely meant to be the demon Belial. In mythology, Belial is one of the evilest demons, drawing people in with his charms and good looks. He appears in the Old Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Testament of Amram. Belial is either Satan’s right hand or Satan himself, depending on the interpretation. While not explicitly stated, Ready or Not leans towards the latter. During the ritual, the Le Domas family says the Hebrew phrase “Shem ha-Meforash,” translating to “the explicit name.” Then they say “Hail Satan” repeatedly, implying that Satan is Belial, aka Mr. Le Bail.
Victor Le Domas’ Deal With Le Bail Explained
Tony Le Domas tells Grace the story of Victor Le Domas’ deal with Le Bail early in Ready or Not. As he explains, when Mr. Le Bail met Victor, the demon presented him with a puzzle box. He said he’d fund any one project of Victor’s choosing if he discovered the box’s secret. The movie provides no explanation about why a demon like Belial would take on the persona of Mr. Le Bail, or why he offered Victor the deal. It doesn’t even reveal the secret of the box, requiring the viewers to suspend their disbelief.
Because Victor succeeded at figuring out the box, Mr. Le Bail gave him the money to start his family’s board game empire. This brought the family success, fame, and wealth. Eventually, they gained enough money to own four different sports teams. However, the Faustian bargain came at the cost of the family’s souls. The Le Domases would start worshiping Mr. Le Bail as their deity, chanting and performing ritualistic animal sacrifices in his name. Moreover, Mr. Le Bail included many arbitrary requirements for the Le Domases to follow, as seen in Ready or Not.
Firstly, every Le Domas must marry at the family’s estate, presumably because that’s the game room’s location. After the wedding, the new addition to the family must get initiated into the La Domas family by playing a game chosen by Mr. Le Bail’s box. The game cannot wait until the next day, requiring that they start before midnight. If the newlyweds elope, wed elsewhere, or refuse to play, they die a painful death. Alex explains to Grace that he’s known this to happen to many family members. Occasionally, the card will say hide and seek, triggering the last and most crucial part of Mr. Le Bail’s deal – the human sacrifice.
Why Le Bail Makes The Family Sacrifice A New Member During “Hide And Seek” Games
In Ready or Not, Mr. Le Bail makes the Le Domas family perform a ritualistic sacrifice of the new family member any time they play hide and seek the night after a wedding. During the sacrifice, they all dress in robes, chant, and stab the sacrifice with an ornate knife. While anyone can kill the person in the ritual, the dialogue implies that Mr. Le Bail prefers that the spouse take the victim’s life. If the family doesn’t complete the task by dawn, they’ll face a horrible death, shown to be hilariously gory explosions.
The hide-and-seek sacrifice in Ready or Not serves as a renewal of the family’s commitment to worship and follow Mr. Le Bail – a requirement in Victor Le Domas’ deal. It proves to him that they’re willing to commit one of the most egregious acts, taking a life, simply because he said so. It also renews the terms of the agreement, ensuring the family stays wealthy. The family’s choice to place their money and social status over morality in Ready or Not shows the wealthy family’s depravity.
