THE HUNT (2020)

Genre: Thriller
Director: Craig Zobel 
Cast: Ike Barinholtz, Betty Gilpin, Emma Roberts, Hilary Swank
Runtime: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: M18 (Violence & Coarse Language)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 13 August 2020

Synopsis: Blumhouse Productions presents a terrifying real world nightmare, a suspense thriller set in modern America that feels a bit too close to reality for comfort. Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don't know where they are, or how they got there. They don't know they've been chosen... for a very specific purpose ... The Hunt. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, a group of elites gathers for the very first time at a remote Manor House to hunt ordinary Americans for sport. But the elites' master plan is about to be derailed because one of The Hunted, Crystal (Betty Gilpin, GLOW), knows The Hunters' game better than they do. She turns the tables on the killers, picking them off, one by one, as she makes her way toward the mysterious woman (two-time Oscar® winner Hilary Swank) at the center of it all.

Movie Review:

There should not be any doubt, right from the get-go, that ‘The Hunt’ is taking aim at the Trump-era political culture in the United States. Oh yes, even though there may not be a MAGA hat to be found, everything about this Blumhouse thriller is screaming at relevancy, beginning of course from its premise of a bunch of liberal elites who kidnap 12 conservatives – referred to as ‘deplorables’, in direct derogatory reference to Trump’s supporters – in order to hunt them for sport.

That said, those looking for sharp social satire will ultimately be disappointed, given how the plotting by ‘Lost’ alumni writers Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof seems content to indulge in name-calling and woke-speak than engage with incisive commentary; in fact, it chooses gleefully to mock both conservatives and liberals, without any desire to dig deeper into the issues that divide them, whether on racism, economic inequality, climate change, gay rights etc.

To their credit, as well as that of director Craig Zobel, the movie skilfully keeps its viewer off balance. That playfulness is on full display from the elaborate opening sequence, which opens with a shot of Emma Roberts waking up in a field with a gag locked onto her mouth and ends with her and the only other recognisable actor (namely, Ike Barinholtz) unceremoniously killed off; only later do we meet the real protagonist of the story, a no-nonsense Mississippian with impressive combat skills named Crystal (GLOW’s Betty Gilpin).

Over a series of set-pieces, Betty will come to confront her hunters, culminating in a womano-a-womano against the very (female) mastermind of the sport. It is in these slickly designed set-pieces that the filmmakers reveal their true intention, i.e. to deliver a hyper-violent, hyper-gory exploitation movie that wants its audience to delight in scenes of self-entitled people getting impaled, injured and even eviscerated by bullets, grenades, booby traps and arrows.

As a sign of just how proud the movie hangs its R-rated credentials on its sleeve, the aforementioned opening sequence sees a woman being blown apart, another falling into a pit trap with spikes, a man getting shot by multiple arrows, and another two escapees choking on a poisonous gas bomb. Betty is no less violent, and a later sequence where she unblinkingly takes out every single one of her hunters cloistered in a bunker is specifically choreographed for her to show off her notable military skills as well as demonstrate how vicious she can be.

That it is more accomplished in its bloodletting than satirising is proof of where the movie’s priorities lie, even as it tries to sell itself as a contemporarily relevant social critique. Neither end of the political spectrum is spared, but much as it highlights the ironies inherent in the actions and positions taken by both sides, the movie is equally guilty of reducing Left and Right to caricatures; worse, it never quite figures out just what it wants to say by the end, leaving one surmising that it is only keen to mock and not much more.

Perhaps the best thing it has going for it is Gilpin, who seems completely at ease oozing old-fashioned machismo and holding her own against Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank in the extended finale. She also has a gift for deadpan humour, and a huge reason for why you’ll enjoy watching her doling comeuppance to her hunters is how she does so in such a completely cool and unflappable manner. Because everyone else is pretty much collateral damage, it is up to Gilpin to hold the entire enterprise together, and she does so with aplomb.

As much as it tries to be a socially relevant thriller, ‘The Hunt’ is ultimately too blunt to make a statement. It’s one thing to poke fun at the zeitgeist, but quite another to have something smart to say about it. Those who love their violence raw will no doubt savour the scenes of graphic mayhem and gore, but those looking for smart social commentary will be disappointed by this mediocre Blumhouse offering. It’s no ‘Get Out’ for sure, but as long as you’re just here for some wicked subversive fun, you’ll lap up the sheer anarchy.

Movie Rating:

(There's no smart social commentary to be found here, but as far as wicked, subversive, gory fun is concerned, it's a blast)

Review by Gabriel Chong