User Reviews

Nobody will confuse this film with cinematic greatness. There's no grandeur. No towering monologues. The camera work, sound and special effects are all good, sometimes very good, but nothing great. The script is good, and necessarily hammy at times.

What this movie does exceptionally well is make fun of nearly everyone who gets caught up in today's divisive politics. The liberals are over the top. The conservatives are over the top. Cliché after cliché, and they all seem silly. And they should: Clichés only become real after they are manifested too often in the world.

The more subtle point is Crystal, the protagonist of the story. She represents the rest of us. Just an average person caught in the middle. She doesn't have a side. She doesn't deserve the injustice of her circumstances. She trudges on against the adversity. She's endowed with her own, potent wisdom, jaded by a world-weary point of view. She's just trying to survive. She's bemused by the insanity of the game, yet sober because her well-being is at stake.

Crystal is an avatar for the average American who simply wants to survive, avoid ruin, and maybe have a chance at happiness, despite the crazy people with megaphones and power trying to do them in.

A familiar but efficient action comedy with an extremely brisk pacing and some good satire aimed squarely at American politics. There's an anything goes policy here with every political position a target and that makes for good humour, at least as far as I'm concerned. It's noticeably violent, kicking off with lots of shock deaths and scenes, before turning into a female-led revenge thriller towards the climax. Aside from Hilary Swank, most of the cast are unknown but they do a pretty good job here. It's not an amazing film but it did entertain me throughout.

Greetings again from the darkness. Let's face it. It was a brilliant marketing strategy. In the wake of mass shootings, the release date of this film was delayed when its subject matter was deemed controversial, even scandalous The film's new marketing slogan became, "The most talked about movie of the year is one that no one's actually seen." Of course, it wasn't really true, as very few were actually talking about it. But that's what made it genius marketing ... they created interest amidst controversy that has since proven unnecessary. Director Craig Zobel (Z FOR ZACHARIAH, 2015) has delivered the least controversial, non-polarizing film of the year. It basically laughs at extremes on the left and right, and reminds us how laughing at something can often take away its power. And regardless of your "side", you'll find some laughs here.

If you've seen the trailer, you know that the premise has a group of liberal elites hunting a hand-selected group of social media-active MAGA deplorables. It's a twist on Richard Connell's 1924 short story "The Most Dangerous Game", although the modern day rich aren't hunting for sport, but rather for political affiliation - gun lovers and climate change deniers. That may sound politically charged, but in fact, it plays as more comedy than comeuppance. Sure, the violence is over-the-top and often quite graphic, but this is a skewering of both red and blue.

Preventing the project from falling into B-movie muck is a standout performance from Betty Gilpin ("Glow") as Crystal. She's a Rambo-type who speaks (with a southern drawl) only when necessary, and seems to have learned a lot while serving in Afghanistan. Most of the time she looks like she has "a pinch between her cheek and gum" (a tip of the Stetson to Walt Garrison), and she also hums to herself and tosses down some unusual facial expressions. This is a seriously oddball performance that is the film's highlight.

One of the best sequences of the film comes quite early as the dozen or so 'deplorables' slowly wake-up and find themselves gagged in a field. A container of weapons leads to an early massacre that allows the filmmaker to tease us with numerous familiar faces taking turns as the heir-apparent lead. Some of the faces that pop up include Ike Barinholtz, Wayne Duvall, Ethan Suplee, Emma Roberts, Christopher Berry, Sturgill Simpson, Kate Nowlin, Amy Madigan, Reed Birney, Glenn Howerton, Hannah Alline (flight attendant), and Usman Ally.

Of course we know this is headed to a showdown between Crystal and Athena (2-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank), the ringleader of the hunting party. A fight scene reminiscent of the KILL BILL movies (sans Samurai swords) takes place at Athena's "manor", and it is stunningly staged and executed. Unfortunately this scene also highlights the mostly inadequate dialogue that exists throughout the film. Some of the quips click, but many fall flat - surprising since the co-writers Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof have previously collaborated on "Watchmen" and "The Leftovers."

Blumhouse Productions keeps cranking out these offbeat genre films, and this one likely benefits from a misplaced scandal, and it strives for self-importance by comparing itself to George Orwell's "Animal House" and with an obscure reference to TEARS OF THE SUN (2013). It's not at the level of last year's gem READY OR NOT, and it missed the opportunity to make some political points, but it's a hoot to watch and as an added bonus, Hilary Swank teaches us the proper way to make a grilled cheese sandwich!

How interesting that so much controversy would be generated by a film an inherently, and deliberately, silly as this one.

A group seemingly unconnected Americans, of various ages and genders, awake to find themselves on a strange compound with the only clue to their situation being a large crate nearby. The crate contains a variety of weapons. Once armed, the people are then picked off by an unseen enemy.

I don't know why I'm being so coy in my synopsis, as you'll know from any of the advertising that the film is about "liberal elites" hunting "deplorables". What you won't get is the tone of the film, which is pretty much a comedy. A black comedy at times admittedly, but occasionally just an out and out comedy. The film I'd most compare it too is "Cabin in The Woods" - as it takes a similarly well worn premise and manages to do some different and new things with it. However, "The Hunt" doesn't have "Cabin's" rewatchability. Once you know the plot, I can't really see another reason to come back to it.

I'd also say, the trailer for the film really does the movie a disservice, as it gives away a couple of the films secrets, including revealing who the lead "Liberal" is played by - which the movie goes to great lengths to keep concealed. The deaths are nicely done though, and often come out of nowhere, with a wonderful practical feel to the effects and it's a funny film, occasionally laugh out loud so. Betty Gilphin is great, as ever, in this.

The controversy that'd dogged the film seems pretty silly once you've seen it. - although the advertising has played into it too - so they only have themselves to blame. I felt the film not only attacks both sides in equal measure but has an overall message of once you scratch the surface there being more that unites us than divides us.

It's a solid, entertaining film - just not one with much replay value.

Major spoilers alert.

This film is great escapist fun that also satirizes the our bizarrely extreme cultural divide. It is refreshing to be able to bring gonzo humor and over the top gore as a way to step back from the mindless anger and group think. On top of that, Betty Gilpin's brilliantly played Crystal Creasy is something unique to film. While ostensibly written as a familiar Mary Sue able to kick any ass and beat down any threat, Crystal is a sardonic participant in a mad mad world. Highly intelligent yet without affectations, she really does not give a damn why everyone is trying to kill her. She is also the one character in the movie who does not comfortably fit into the extreme left or right stereotypes in spite of all the superficial appearances to the contrary.

I also credit the writers Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof for being willing to subversively skewer their own. Their sharpest barbs are reserved for their fellow Elites while the Deplorables are mostly just one dimensional cartoonish characters rarely provided with more depth than the aptly hilariously named Yoga Pants or Shut Up Gary.

On the other hand, the elite hunters characters are fleshed out with many little details and conceits familiar to those who travel in similar circles. Athena babbles on tritely and unoriginally about the singular importance of cutting tomatoes with a bread knife and using Gruyere in her grilled cheese sandwich speech which takes place in the mansion she keeps insisting is NOT A MANOR! She and her compatriots toss off Animal Farm Snowball references as a sort of intellectual adornment, insult, and shibboleth while revealing that they understand next to nothing about a book they were probably once forced to read in some boring English class.

The film's conflict originates with one of the Elite characters being found out sleeping with his wife's oncologist which leads to his dismissal from his charitable foundation. Another talks about his dubious devotion to a peasant lover he has inconveniently knocked up. They all look down on the hired hand Sargent Dale who is only allowed the smallest modicum of respect for having a small part in the Bruce Willis movie Tears of the Sun - "why is the sun crying?". Even the choice of having the action set in Croatia in something of a inside joke as that has recently been a preferred destination for the fashionable set seeking to avoid the common company of the hoi polloi.

The movie starts with a turtle and ends with a hare mirroring the awesomely twisted and violent bedtime story that Crystal says her mother used to tell her. That story serves as a sort of explanation of her uniquely detached outlook and her singular ability to spot deadly threats based on the smallest of tells.

At the film's conclusion, Crystal echos the story arc of the Napoleon Animal Farm character. She transforms from her deplorable self by donning Athena's signature red bottomed stiletto pumps, slipping into her stylish black dress, commandeering her plane, while tossing back Athena's prized champagne and caviar.

Why it's a Cinderella story!

Highly recommended if you have a sense of humor and can enjoy a stupid fun movie.

All of you NEED to stop by the theater (be sure to avoid Covid-19) and watch this, because it is amazing! I don't think you understand. This social satire dark comedy psychological thriller is clever and takes good turns at the most. Betty Gilpin and Hilary Swank's performance is perfect and makes the experience even better. Yes, many characters are killed off quickly, but it all helps the story develop. You see, the writers have you think the movie is one thing, but it then changes frequently. It is a great must watch.