The Hunt

Awaking to discover herself in a bizarre game of death, Crystal (as played by Glee‘s Betty Gilpin) decides that she’s not going to be anybody’s victim. Surrounded by what appears to be a collection of socially undesirable characters each sporting right-wing views, it quickly becomes apparent that they are being hunted down by the liberal elite, but will any other make it to the end?

A lean, mean, inciting machine, The Hunt is an engaging fight to the end…

Blumhouse’s The Hunt is an ingeniously decisive piece of social satire that bizarrely will appeal to both sides of the political fence. The right-wing will identify with the prey who tool themselves up with all manner of armaments to fight back and the left will delight in this survival of the un-fittest as Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof’s script its obvious boss-fight.

Deliberately satirising modern-day prejudices much in the same way that Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale did with teenagers in 2000, The Hunt is a less subtle but more brutal weapon. Skewering and blowing up prejudices as their embodiments run around unchecked in the Croatian countryside doubling for Arkansas, this is a film that delights in being “so right on, that it hurts”.

In the lead role as Crystal, Betty Gilpin is a sardonic as sawdust. Mopping up the deadly presumptions that have been scattered on her path, her depiction of Crystal immediately stands out as a character who appears to have been here before – or at least somewhere a lot like it. The rest of the cast largely disappear on cue, clearing the away for a face-off with the movie’s other big addition: Hilary Swank.

With its tongue firmly in its cheek, The Hunt balances its social critique with plenty of body parts and devotees of Blumhouse productions, should know what to expect in a dusty reign of terror that is for the most part red from its opening moments. A lean, mean, inciting machine, The Hunt is an engaging fight to the end, pepper-sprayed with sly nods and winks throughout.

To quote Betty Gilpin’s Crystal “you won’t have to listen to Beethoven before they get on with it” but you may want to enjoy a glass of champagne by the end, no matter which side you find yourself on.