The latest filmic twist on Richard Connell’s century-old short story The Most Dangerous Game, The Hunt is perhaps best known for its twice-unfortunate timing. The film, which revels in its gun-violent plot where rich elites kidnap and hunt a dozen online conspiracy theorists, was originally postponed in the wake of two mass shootings in August of last year. Its new release date then had the luck of landing smack dab in the middle of the coronavirus quarantine, where, were it not for the virus, its producers had hoped to cash in on the film’s cache of controversy, earned or otherwise. Now, as a last resort, it is available to rent on demand for the price of a movie ticket, with some small concessions.
There’s not much more to the film than its high-concept premise suggests. Thankfully, it wastes little time getting to the point, starting with a brief prelude on a garishly lit plane in which a perfectly-cast Glenn Howerton toys with an uncomfortable flight attendant. Moments later, we’re dropped in with the hunted as they each wake up in the woods, gagged and groggy. We’re then briefly introduced to the confused American caricatures who gather around a large wooden crate like they’re waiting for the Hunger Games to begin. From there, the hunt is on, showcasing the film’s true raison d’être: grindhouse ultraviolence. Characters are picked off fast and loose; in what is one of the film’s few surprises, you can’t count on an actor’s clout to keep their character alive.
The violence is played for shocks and laughs, but elicits neither. And with its outlandish stereotypes, from the politically correct, self-policing yet murderous elite, to the gun-loving, immigrant hating “rednecks” (as the film calls them), the script—co-written by Damon Lindelof—amounts to a tone-deaf “hot take” worthy of the loneliest Twitter trolls. The ad campaign surrounding The Hunt would have you believe it’s the button-pushing bad boy of cinema, but the idea that this painfully tongue-in-cheek film could incite rage on any side is one of the only laughable things about it.
The film’s saving grace is its heroine, Crystal (Betty Gilpin of Nurse Jackie and GLOW). She, or her character, alone, seems to see through the ridiculousness of it all, and delivers some of the best and most unexpected line reads of this or any other movie in recent memory. Like Samara Weaving in Ready or Not, Gilpin gives an inspired if unconventional performance in a film that plays it too safe on both the political and exploitation front, making The Hunt barely worth seeing, if only just for her.
