The Hunt

So it seems that in 2020, the number one public enemy for the American people is not international terrorism, communism, crime, or a pandemic, it's political satire! It was clear from the beginning that the "big controversy" about The Hunt was just an exaggerated issue in a global context. The context is a profound political divide between the American left and right, and a significant percentage of Americans feel deeply moved by the mild spring breeze that was tickling their bottoms. After all, The Hunt is just a satirical action movie that indiscriminately wades into many political streams, without seemingly offering anything new, such as the series South Park which has been shouting about issues regularly for the last 15 years. Obviously, the problem is when political satire is presented quite so literally in a relatively big movie. The Hunt has already based a promotional campaign on this controversy after the not inconsiderable postponement of the premiere. At times it's an apt and humorous spectacle, and at other times it's quite unfocused and looks to be overcompensating for something. However, in the end, it's an action movie that tries it's hardest to surprise you and it's certainly not boring and it wouldn't hurt to see it. (23/03/2020)

The first half is a nice and unpredictable semi-parody that relies on the audience’s familiarity with the rules of the genre, but it’s not afraid to overturn them for fun (and it doesn’t feel inappropriate). In the second half, after the most important cards have been revealed, the film falls into its own mirror and, despite the persisting quality of the craftsmanship and the insight, it can no longer surprise. The heroine is convincingly badass, but Hilary Swank’s attractive character (metaphorically and literally) had some more potential and I would have liked a bolder ending, given the concept of rewriting the expectations. Overall, though, it’s surprisingly good. 65% (22/03/2020)

I hate movies where the director sits there in awe and says that everyone on the screen is a moron and that's why we're going to laugh at them. This isn't smart satire, it's the movie version of a Facebook discussion with conservatives and liberals arguing; all the smart people have left and now someone comes along and feels they have to tell the rest they're morons. By the way, besides the final fight, it's pretty uninteresting. (02/04/2020)

I have no idea why horror is listed as one of the film's genres. Black comedy fits much better. Anyway, I had fun while wading through all that blood, and I don't care what it says about me. After all, when the Americans are able to make fun of all their taboo topics once every ten years, I’m ecstatic about how different it is from the constantly celebrated patriotism, riding on a giant wave of pathos. What's more, I loved Crystal’s approach, and I still have to think about how frustrating it must be when you're talking to someone whose head (or at least a substantial part of it) is gone all of a sudden. The film definitely deserves to have a higher rating. (30/05/2020)

We've already had manhunting as a "hobby for the elite", but The Hunt takes this theme from a slightly different perspective. The film offers plenty of black-humour scenes and a pretty solid unpredictability – you really don't know who will die, when and how, which is a big plus. On the whole, I was bothered by the passages with too much talking that unnecessarily stretched out the running time. The Hunt is one of those films where I can understand any rating. Otherwise, Betty Gilpin pushed the envelope a little too hard at times with her bad-ass-look, whatever. (22/05/2020)