Film: The Hunt
Cast: Hilary Swank, Betty Gilpin, Ike Barinholtz, Emma Roberts, Wayne Duvall
Writers: Nick Cuse & Damon Lindelof
Music by: Nathan Barr
Director: Craig Zobel
Review: Klep Napier
Rating: 3 X’s out of 5X’s
I feel that sometimes it’s good to avoid trailers. This not only helps with avoiding spoilers, but also helps lower the level of expectations when approaching certain films. I say this because that’s exactly what happened when I decided on one lonely afternoon, to check out “The Hunt”. Of course being who I am, I'd heard of the film, but it wasn’t exactly on my must see right away list. I mean with everything going on in the world today, I figure some features could wait before others. But what I can tell you is that I'm glad I took the chance and even more so that I went in blind!
“The Hunt” follows a group of strangers who awake in a small town gagged, with know clue as to where they are or how they got there. Things take a dramatic turn when they immediately find themselves in the line of fire [literally] out of nowhere. They have just been dropped into a deadly game of survival!
I’m just going to stop there because at first it all seemed a bit familiar, and it will if you’ve seen films like Severance, Predators or The Belko Experiment. Where it wins is this one has flare in a sense that it will keep you engaged enough to want to know what in the hell is going on. That’s really all I can say without spoiling things but I will tell you this, based on it's cast, you will definitely be surprised by who makes it and who doesn't. Not only that, aside from all the shocking fate of certain key players, the film is pretty smart. Layering the film with social undertones and wit make a great recipe for a satirical dark comedy. Prepare to chuckle at your own thoughts as you relate to a-lot of the dialogue.
What may seem a bit quirky about “The Hunt” is that it’s jam packed with a lot of eclectic stars at random. We think this was designed to throw you off about who the actual lead of the film is. But it works. Most of the film comes off campy, and pokes fun at itself which makes it very hard to take serious as a horror/thriller but makes for great entertainment. It’s an acquired taste.
Overall, The Hunt sticks it to social mediocrity, gender stereotypes, and social class, with a Purge meets Sarah Conner spin to it. [Still not giving it away] It’s still a dish a badass well served for the time we’re living in.
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