Review: The Hunt

Being sold on a story-type that is ever growing can work for everyone. There are some stories that we just never get tired of different portrayals of. This new release contained something that I am always interested in, as I feel it always has huge potential in succeeding on many levels.

This managed to prove my theory, as it gave me something quite interesting. But only up to a point.
It starts off in a really effective way that films just don't even dare doing.
While it gives us a concept that is somewhat familiar yet one that I'm always up for, determining the main protagonist and antagonist made this a lot more enjoyable then it could have been.

That unpredictability factor was a smart move and saved this movie from being instantly forgettable and basically inferior to similar films before it. As the film moved on, the political satire tone of the film was working for me and the action was well executed.
The ending was a bit of a letdown. While there were a nice surprise in there, it just ended in an extremely conventional and almost too safe way.

The performance by Betty Galpin gives this film a lot of its strength. The way she handles herself in the action scenes gives her quite the physical presence, and should give her the breakthrough in being the next action film star. I was very impressed with her, and she deserves to be in future projects.

I was surprised to see this came from Craig Zobel, the same director as Compliance (a film which I absolutely hate, but that's another story).
As well as his regular tense and serious drama, the added comedy gave this film a similar vibe in portions to that of my most fun film of 2019, Ready Or Not.

I like that it wasn't afraid to satirise topics that could backfire badly in certain circles. It might not be smart enough to rattle any cages. But I feel it's done enough to entertain the masses.
However, this also has a negative side to it. While I did enjoy the comedy, it doesn't quite have the strength or edge to be the total package.

So I would say, overall it does enough to make it worth your time. There is originality in some aspects to keep the film moving along as well as keeping the viewer gripped. But I feel the formulaic and dare I say pedestrian paced ending kind of levelled out my enjoyment a bit.
It explores its ideas well in parts and there are strong performances in here, particularly Gilpin as mentioned before. It's no Battle Royale, but it managed to be a solid piece and another worthy addition to the human-hunting sub-genre.

Rating: 7/10