Movie Review: The Hunt

Less than a week from his last film, Jason Blum produces yet another embarrassing attempt at horror in The Hunt.

The Hunt (starring Betty Gilpin as Crystal) is an embarrassing attempt at a “conversation starter.” Originally set to be released on September the 27th, the film was cancelled by Universal Studios after a series of shootings in America. The film also gained controversy over its political nature, revealed before the original release date. This being the villains portrayed as Liberals hunting “deplorables” – people who post what they deem hate speech on the internet.

The film opens with a text conversation between the villains of the film, setting up the idea of a hunt, The Most Dangerous Game-style. After a zoom into the text “The Hunt” we see again, the rich on a plane, again telling us about the hunt. At this point, the set-up is already been made clear. If one hadn’t seen the trailer, they would get the idea that it’s about a group of people hunting “deplorables”. Thus, showing the same wealthy people on a plane only spoils their reveals later in the film, when they’re found sneaking amongst civilians. Despite this, the scene was entertaining and left crumbs for the twist at the end with the characters (especially Glenn Howerton’s Richard) fear of violence. Following this scene is 20 minutes of people being blown up, shot, stabbed, and poisoned. The film is constantly making us follow a character, only to then pull the rug out from under you – into a spike trap.

Betty Gilpin’s performance is perfectly insane yet constrained. She masterfully delivers a level of insanity yet calmness that makes her carry the whole film on her shoulders. The constant exhaustion and devil-may-care attitude she brings provides moments of levity and intelligence that proves The Hunt could’ve been so much more.

When you strip away anything that could’ve made this film special or memorable, you’re left with the exact same film without Betty Gilpin. The cinematography, editing and sound were nothing to write home about, accomplishing their job but not doing anything interesting with it. Without a strong political message for either side it’s not even worth the controversy it’s been parading around for its marketing.

Overall, the hunt is only worth a watch if you’re into watching gory, violent deaths. If you wish to “start a conversation” regarding the political stance made, there’s better films being made every day. Everything Ken Loach has done is a far greater conversation starters regarding today’s society and political climate than anything Blumhouse has done so far. But other than the violence there’s little to remember about The Hunt.