The Hunt: A Dull Satire Not Worthy Of All The Fuss
Originally scheduled to release in September of 2019, The Hunt experienced delay after delay due to a rash of mass shootings (in Dayton and El Paso), and its perceived targeting of red-state voters and depiction of "liberal elites". The film cleverly used the public outrage to its benefit in its marketing, but since its quiet COVID release to VOD back in March, it begs the question, was it really worth all that fuss?
In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, a group of globalist elites gathers for the very first time at a remote Manor House to hunt humans for sport. But the elites' master plan is about to be derailed because one of the hunted, Crystal (Betty Gilpin), 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 (Hilary Swank) at the center of it all.
After watching The Hunt, it’s hard to believe it caused such a ruckus, both inside and outside of the film community. The film, while amusing, is not much of a profound or thought-provoking piece, and it clearly caught more controversy than it rightly deserves. The Republicans were quick to jump on the bandwagon to lambast the film — which no one had even seen at that particular point in time, mind you — operating under the narrow notion that it was a left-wing assault on the right-wing philosophy. However, had the public held their outraged tongues long enough to allow the film to launch as intended, they would have found there’s not much to get upset about.
If the public outcry wasn’t so strong, it’s likely that the film would have quietly tanked back in 2019 (kinda like it did this year!). But thanks to the controversy raised by thin-skinned Americans who can’t tolerate being the butt of a joke — even when it’s not that great of a punchline — they got way more interest and eyes of The Hunt than it otherwise would have. The old adage is that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but it seems pretty apparent that the film’s controversy will forever outshine the film itself, which has already seemed to vanish from the annals of memory. Still, it’s never a bad thing for a film — whether it be good or bad — to get people to question the medium’s power, to get them to ask, “Is film really dangerous?” In the case of The Hunt, this somewhat intentional provocation serves as the soft-boiled satire’s crowning achievement.
You can tell you’re going to be in for a bumpy and uneven ride from The Hunt’s opening scene, which takes place on a private plane as some liberals prepare for the titular hunt. Screenwriters Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof’s approach to cover the perspectives of both the “liberal elites” and “the deplorables” muddles the plot and dulls any sharpness to its satiric and thriller elements. Instead of introducing us to the elites, Cuse and Lindelof should have dropped us into the film’s events with “the deplorables” as they awaken, gagged and confused, to their hyper-violent slaughter. This would have given the audience something to lean into, but the mystery is somewhat demystified by the opening scene where we meet the hunters and are acquainted with their incompetence immediately, which would have landed with more comedic effect had it been saved as a later revelation.
Cuse and Lindelof pop off shots on both sides of the political divide, essentially satirizing the divide between, but out of their scattershot approach very few blows land with resonance. Their attempts to mash genres is a bit off kilter, but it’s made slightly more cohesive by Craig Zorbel’s direction. A lot of the characters are underutilized or quickly disposed of, which was kind of surprising since some of them were bigger-name actors. Betty Gilpin’s Crystal and Hillary Swank’s Athena are the only noteworthy characters and performances, with the former outshining the latter. Cuse and Lindelof have a bit of fun with both characters’ involvement in the film’s events, but unfortunately, they build their rivalry toward a disappointing showdown before giving way to an unaffecting conclusion.
By taking a non-linear approach to what is essentially a straightforward and simple story, The Hunt dampens its thrills and its satiric teeth. In a day and age when so much is either right or left leaning, it’s nice to see a film take the middle ground, even when it’s not particularly used to any meaningful effect. At the end of the day, The Hunt makes for decently fun and entertainingly gory thriller, but it’s much more disposable than we’d hoped it would be.
Recommendation: Unless you really want to watch a mediocre, blood-soaked satire that fires shots at both sides of the political spectrum, wait for The Hunt to find its way to streaming.
Rating: 2.5 headshots outta 5.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!