The Hunt

Liberal snooty types lashing out at conservative cronies and their right-wing leanings should have made for some enjoyably edgy satire, but 'The Hunt' is merely a by-the-numbers comedy-horror-suspense thriller that has a few punchy moments. But, if production company Blumhouse wants to remake a bunch of 90s Jean-Claude Van Damme action movies with Betty Gilpin in the lead role, I think I'd be down with that. I'd watch them, not in the theatres obviously, but late at night after a few beers.

• Jake Watt

Read Jake's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-the-hunt-blunt-lazy-and-undeserving-of-controversy

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In case you don't know, I'm from Portugal. Why does this matter? Well, The Hunt was delayed after a massive shooting in the USA, and since the movies' themes are extremely sensitive, the producers decided to postpone the film. At the time, I felt frustrated that, once again, movies have to suffer from real-life situations. Going to the theater is supposed to be an "out of this world" experience. The audience is transported into a fictional place where real-world problems can be forgotten for a couple of hours. So, I never handled these constant controversies surrounding films very well...

With that said, I believe The Hunt not only benefited from that delay, but its satirical story has even more impact now. There's no way around this. Craig Zobel's movie is meant to be one of the most divisive films of the last few years. I know it's a pretty basic analogy, but it's just like a dark humor standup show. If you don't have any issues with jokes about topics like racism, stereotypes, immigration, refugees, religion, politics, and every sensitive theme that your mind can imagine, then you'll find The Hunt a brilliant allegory of society's most extreme people. If you do have problems with this type of comedy, then stay away from this movie because Damon Lindelof and Nick Cuse go all out!

When I write that every remotely sensitive taboo subject or activity is unrestrainedly addressed, I mean EVERY SINGLE theme. This is a narrative completely packed with extreme, over-the-top cliches and stereotypes of both right and left political sides. At first glance, The Hunters feel like the "bad guys", in the sense that they're hunting innocent people for pure pleasure. Once the audience understands the reasons behind the selection of the people being hunted, one small but tremendously effective thought enters everyone's mind: "you know what... the world would actually be a bett...

Review From Horror Focus

Gaining its momentum back in mid 2019, The Hunt stirred up quite a bit of controversy prior to its initial release, branding it too brutal for release due to the mass shootings in Ohio, Texas last summer. This Blumhouse picture was later rescheduled, and was at one point never to see the light of day, which would have been a crushing blow knowing how relevant this actually turned out to be. Luckily for us, Blumhouse soon caught on and realised movies like The Hunt are exactly what our cruel audience’s need right now, something with a sharp satirical bite with a gut-punching narrative reflective of modern society. Welcome to my favourite horror movie of the past few years.

Imagine a Twitter thread was made into a movie, this is The Hunt. What we have here is a film that functions on the confliction that exists in the real-world between liberals and conservatives, as they take chunks out of each other when discussing politics online, spilling blood on each side as opinions and views are torn to shit by the opposing party. What is depicted is literal death and carnage, which is representative of how the different identities and political views that are one person's beliefs, but another’s infuriating joke. Image result for the hunt 2020 film The beauty here (which is addressed as a massive concern to most reviewers) is the lack of depth to these characters within The Hunt, and to their lifestyle choices and political standpoints. What works best is that it never takes a stance when mocking both sides of the political spectrum, and allows us as an audience to identify which whatever our political views lead us to, even if one side is draped in murderous overtones. I admire how we are left to decide where we would stand, and if what is happening is something we can sympathise with. To most, what I’m saying sounds ridiculous, but this lack of depth to these characters is very much reflective on the current state of our social media,...

Irony of ironies that this movie's release got pulled due to Trump's shitfit despite never having seen it, when a not insubstantial part of The Hunt is about the left's propensity for sparking outrage without having the whole story. The reality is, the nothing The Hunt has to say is worth being outraged over. Betty Gilpin's great in it, because of course she is, intermittently there some pretty fun violence, and only most of the dialogue is incredibly awkward, but if you want any sort of consumable message, or witty repartee, don't be fooled by people on any end of any spectrum, saying that's something you can find here.

Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.

It was... fine. Nothing really to write home about, but some decent kills and gore, plus true subverting expectations with the cast of characters killed off early on. Kind of peters out towards the end but overall it's worth a rental but one could wait until it's available for free as part of a streaming service. 3.5/5

I knew this film was going to be something different but I didn’t read anything about the film before I started watching it. And this is my absolute recommendation to anybody who is thinking of watching this film. Don’t read anything about it. Just watch it. It is different, obscure, unusual, political, weird and overall awesome!

Would I watch it again? Yes! Would I make my friends watch it? Absolutely!

Fantastic watch, will watch again, and do recommend.

This is one of the best, if weirdly refreshing movies I've seen in quite some time. I'm a sucker for a good survival movie, and this is an "elites hunt people for sport" trope mixed with a good mystery plot if there ever was one. The story structure alone is worth the watch as it essentially runs 3 (-4) sequential stories to tell one overall story while telling you about the story structure. Some movies clearly put a lot of effort into keeping you on your toes, this movie just does it.

Not only is the gunfighting immaculate, but the combat action sequences are amazing. Betty Gilpin steals the show every time she's on screen, and I would normally say she's the one that carries the movie, but the movie is good enough that even though she's over the top great, I can't say the movie needs her to carry it.

There is an investigative aspect of the movie that is very intriguing, but that is given in the "why are they doing this to us" of it all, but unless the villains give an "evil speech", then it should be expected.

If you enjoy human vs human survival situations, then I think you will be pleasantly surprised by this one.

Satirical look at Left and Right in a “Most Dangerous Game” setting

Several non-Liberal people wake up in the middle of nowhere, possibly Arkansas, to discover they’re being hunted by cutthroat Leftwing radicals.

"The Hunt" (2020) takes the basic-Zaroff scenario of "Open Season" (1974) and "The Hunger Games" (2012) and applies it to the Left’s ire toward “deplorables.” Unlike those other two flicks, this is an amusing satire that pokes fun at both political sides while arguably veering toward pro-Conservative, at least more so than pro-Left.

Betty Gilpin is quite effective as the protagonist, Crystal, while Hilary Swank eventually shows up in the last act for a knock-down-drag-out climax.

The film is snappy at 1 hours, 30 minutes, and was shot in Louisiana, including New Orleans.

GRADE: A-

Basically, there are a ton of 1 star reviews on IMDb complaining that it makes the left look bad... despite, you know, things like Antifa and their belief that a red hat means they gt to physically assault people.

So I am going to give it 10 stars... because my wife had a milk shake thrown at her for being a "race traitor" and, on our way back from work we got egged (along with everyone else at a red light) in an attempt to convince us to support impeachment.

And, because of that I think that this works as a satire about that attitude that having a different opinion means they have the right to act violently, by taking that attitude to an extreme.

And when reviewers write sentences like "insipid portrayals of both the elite and the deplorables" it only serves to reinforce the attitude that the film is parodying, that attitude that they are "elite" elevated above all others, and those in the out group are dehumanized as "deplorable."

In fact, the vast majority of the 1 star reviews are written with a vocabulary that so perfectly echoes the people that the film is a satire of that it is almost impossible not to see the brilliance here.

"Elite" and "deplorable" a part of me thinks that they realize that they are the subject of satire in this film... but can't seem to avoid acting exactly like the people that are being mocked here.

So, congratulations, language of the negative reviews alone make this a brilliant satire.

The Hunt presents an intriguing premise but fails to develop its story and characters effectively due to a rushed narrative. The lack of buildup and shallow portrayal of both the hunted and the elite weakens emotional investment, with the action sequences feeling brief and underwhelming. While Betty Gilpin’s fight scenes stand out, her overall performance—like much of the film—lacks depth, and the final battle feels forced and unrealistic given the characters’ supposed skill levels.

Read the full review here: (Indonesian version : alunauwie.com)