Don’t you wish sometimes that you could deal with those people on Twitter? You know the people I’m talking about the people who fervently have the wrong opinions, in your opinion. This is where director Craig Zobel and writer Damon Lindelof along with an eccentric cast of characters come in with The Hunt.
The Hunt is on
The best part of this film is the mystery of it so I won’t go into the specifics of the story but I will explain the base premise. A dozen individuals wake up in a field and find out they are being hunted for sport. Many of them have theories of what is happening, the main one is Manorgate. This supposed event happens once a year where the liberal elite capture “average joe” Americans and hunt them for sport.
As the numbers whittled down and the gore and action ramped up I found myself falling in love the madness of The Hunt. Now I’m going to put across why I think you should see this hidden gem.
The Left and the Right and the audience
The Hunt is a fascinating film. There are no real characters save for one. All the rest of the cast are caricatures of many types of people we saw across the internet.
There is a man who is in charge of a podcast who pushes his beliefs on everyone because he’s obviously right. There are a ton of trolls within the dozen of people being hunted and then there are the hunters. The liberal elite. The individuals who wear adopting a refugee child as a badge of honour that they showcase to everyone they know. These are people who say you can’t say guys when addressing a group because a woman is there and it’s sexist.
And then she appeared
It happened quite quickly but one of the characters captured my attention. Her name is Crystal and she is played by Betty Gilpin and she is a force of nature. Gilpin brings a brilliant energy to the performance and she steals every scene she’s in. There is one scene where she is in a car and she does this odd turn and it’s oddly magnetic. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. This is impressive because there are a lot of surreal and hilarious individuals all of which grab your attention.
The Hunt plays with perception very well. From the casting of the characters to the dialogue in the film you are tricked due to your own bias’. For example, when the film opens we are introduced to a lot of characters and you’ll immediately begin to latch onto characters because you may know their work or you may think hey they’re attractive they’ll be fine. However, as the film goes on you’ll learn things about a lot of characters that will immediately shift your views on them and that’s clever and I really liked it.
One of the most enjoyable parts of The Hunt is its cinematography. The action on show is amazing. Director Zobel and his team used the action to showcase the style of each character. In particular, the final throwdown which is intense but also fun.
The pitfalls
If there were issues it would be that the writing sometimes is a little too on the nose. There is a definite bias against certain characters in this film and it takes away from the impact of the narrative and its message.
Also, the narrative itself is ultimately an unoriginal one. Sure the twist of the liberal elites versus the alt-right is a fun one but this is basically Battle Royale, The Purge and other films of their ilk. Luckily the themes and the cast of oddballs elevates it above these issues.
I loved The Hunt. It is a fun satire on the way the world views itself right now and has some of the best action of the year.
Check it out when you get the chance and stay tuned to Scannain for more reviews, news, and interviews.