'The Hunt' Review
R: Strong bloody violence, and language throughout. Runtime: 1 Hr and 30 MinutesProduction Companies: Blumhouse Productions, White Rabbit ProductionsDistributor: Universal Pictures Director: Craig ZobelWriters: Nick Cuse, Damon LindelofCast: Betty Gilpin, Ike Barinholtz, Emma Roberts, Hilary SwankRelease Date: March 13, 2020
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.
Back in July of last year, a trailer for Blumhouse’s The Hunt — which was slated for a September release — was attached to the commercial summer hit Crawl. The closer we got to the film’s original release date, the more conservatives saw the trailer. In response, they attempted to sabotage the film by creating false claims about negative reactions from test screenings and vocalizing their thoughts on twitter. Even President Fucktard attacked Universal for a movie he hadn’t seen, resulting in Universal shelving the film, which I thought was a cowardly move. Last month, out of nowhere, Universal said, “Fuck it” and came back strong with a new marketing angle and release date for The Hunt! The shock and excitement made me go:
The Hunt has arrived and it's much more than what you’d expect it to be.The marketing makes this out to be a conservative battle royale a la Hunger Games or Battle Royale, but from the very first act, it immediately says “HA. YOU THOUGHT! YOU THINK THIS IS A HUNGER GAMES MOVIE?!” This was painted to be an ensemble action piece given the recognizable faces of Emma Roberts, Ike Barinholtz, and Justin Hartley. Nope, it’s not their show at all. Not to give too much away, but if you thought the X-Force sequence from Deadpool 2 took you by surprise, The Hunt opens with a barrel full of bloody, gory surprises. The entire first act is dedicated to giving you a gore show and I admire its ability to shift focus from the rightist prey to the leftist predators before settling on the main protagonist, Crystal (Betty Gilpin). This is Betty Gilpin’s show and she’s absolutely fantastic. You might say she GLOWs in the limelight.
All jokes aside, she kills it as an action star who also happens to carry the dark comedic tone where she delivers her lines in fun dry pan mixed with badass one-liners. She’s doing so much physicality throughout while being very observant and resourceful and you really become attached to Crystal. She’s smarter than all the idiots in the room and you want her to kickass. She carries the movie powerfully all the way through.
Now, for a movie that was shelved thanks to right-wing conservatives overreacting because they thought this movie was “liberal propaganda,” it’s hilarious to see Universal pull the wool over their eyes with an end product that says, “Hold up, we don’t just hate you. We also fucking hate White liberals too, specifically fake “woke” White liberals.” What I appreciate about Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof’s script is how accurate the characteristics and behaviors of each opposing side are. Despite all the characters being completely one-note stereotypes, it’s not that far off from how right-wing conservatives and the liberal elite behave. They’re all extremists and you know what? As a Black person who can’t fucking stand either side, I felt like this narrative worked. These are the liberals that never check their privilege or own up to their ancestors’ crimes and try to be politically correct while also acting pretentiously cocky when they’re the same race as the conservatives. You want both sides dead and the film does a great job making you a bystander watching this war unfold. For some reason, this has been marketed as a horror film. When the Blumhouse logo features the spinning chair and creepy girl in the logo, you know what genre they’re pursuing, but this is a satirical action thriller. It goes all-in on the gore in the first act — and believe me, it’s nasty — but as it progresses, it turns out to be an action flick. The action sequences are fun, but the climax… Holy shit. No matter what you say about this movie, you have to bite the bullet and admit that the final action sequence is fucking phenomenal.
As fun as The Hunt is, it attempts to tackle many relevant topics that plague both sides. I admire its ambition to comment on widespread misinformation, whether it’s this movie or the coronavirus, and how it brings out the absolute savage in everyone. Despite what political side you’re on, we’re all sucking the cow’s teat of capitalism. It would’ve been completely effective if it wasn’t for the fact that all the characters are over-the-top one-note caricatures. Everyone is either too racist or too woke and nobody is subtle with it. That said, I’ve encountered stereotypical rednecks while in Texas and fake PC “woke” people every now and then when I’m just straight chillin’ in a Starbucks… so, the portrayals aren’t totally inaccurate.The only one who contains multitudes is Crystal because she is just naturally smart. However, it feels as if the movie tries way too damn hard to be deep when it’s really just surface-level content. A few of the messages are muddled, but it’s a centralist movie that doesn’t pick a side while showing the true nature of the cringiest assholes on both wings.
First of all, hahaha you sons of bitches (conservatives). You really fell into Universal’s trap! They wanted you to believe this shit. The intro might seem meta and like it was added after the shelving, but no. It just happened to be more effective because of the conspiracies. They trolled the fuck out of you! I love how conservatives were like, “Fuck this movie. It was made for White liberals to make them look good” and the movie itself goes, “Hold on a second. We hate White liberals too. We hate both of y’all.” We fell into Blumhouse’s trap and this dark comedic action satire was their ultimate trick: A mirror held up to both wings that says, “Hey, you both fucking suck and here are your faults.”Hey, if you are a person of color and have been oppressed by White people, then this will be fun for you. In a time where diverse casting is always in conversation, this is the first time where I’m grateful there weren’t any Black people featured because it is primarily the worst of the worst White people killing each other. This will, of course, anger everyone, but I love it. The Hunt is an engaging and relentlessly fun action thriller that will either get you riled up or provide a good time. Rating: 3.5/5 | 75%
