The Hunt

The Hunt was one of the last films to be released before COVID-19 shut down the movie theaters. It is an over-the-top, ultra-violent take on the political polarization currently going in America, borrowing heavily from other works, like The Hunger Games and Battle Royale.

Actually, most of these films and books stem from a story, "The Most Dangerous Game," which was about a man hunting another man as prey. There have been many variations since. The Hunt has the gimmick of liberals hunting conservatives, which is amusing I guess.

About a dozen people wake up in a clearing. We glean that they are all MAGA-style (although Trump's name is never mentioned) conspiracy nuts, who have all written about something called Manorgate, which is a supposed hunt arranged by liberal elites. The prey are given weapons, but are picked off pretty quickly. This early section is interesting because we are introduced to characters we think will be the leads (including Emma Roberts) only to see them killed. Finally our heroine emerges, Betty Gilpin, a more than capable woman who kills her hunters and has a showdown with the main villain, Hilary Swank.

The filmmakers, director Craig Zobel and writers Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof, have fun satirizing the two sides--the hunted are the type who believe every Deep State conspiracy on the Net, while the liberals are excessively politically correct, with a woman objecting to someone using the collective word "guys." "Sorry, I gendered that," the contrite fellow says.

There's a high body count, in a variety of ways, including guns, arrows, mines, and poisoned doughnuts. The climax of the film is Gilpin and Swank engaging in what is about a ten-minute slugfest, including many sharp objects and a blowtorch.

The Hunt, if not taken very seriously, is sadistic fun. I don't see it as profound as the makers may have hoped.