The Hunt Aims To Be Both Action And Satire Yet Underwhelms As Audiences Are Left Confused By Its Intended Narrative

       Whereas most action-thrillers tend to follow a straight-forward narrative in regards to storytelling, The Hunt dares to be ambitious and provocative with both its main plot as well as its satirical style aimed at both American political parties. Originally scheduled for release in September 2019, the film was ultimately pushed back by Universal Studios due to the tragic Dayton and El Paso mass shootings in August 2019. In addition, the film also received criticism from both sides of the political aisle for its direct targeting of red-state voters as well as its depiction of individuals labeled as "liberal elites". The film was ultimately released in theaters on March 12, 2020 to heavily mixed reviews and poor box office reception (The latter largely due to the rise of the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in the temporary shutting down of all U.S theaters). Having seen the film, its no mystery as to why The Hunt has received such a polarizing and divisive response from audiences as the actual film itself is a complete and utter mess. The Hunt aspires to be not just an action-thriller with horror elements incorporated into its story, it also aims to blend political satire into the proceedings in an effort to make it come across as being darkly humorous with the concept of rich Liberal elites killing off a group of "deplorables". Instead of the latter being the case, the end result is a confused and messy film which often manages to take audiences out of the story moreso​ than engaging them with its moments of intended suspense and thrills.

      The plot for The Hunt centers around twelve strangers waking up in an isolated area, that's host to a hunt with no recollection of where they are or how they got there. They soon discover that the twist behind their abduction is them being used as intended prey with them may or may not being hunted for their own political preferences. As the selected individuals are picked off one-by-one, it becomes unclear on who the good or predatory people are. The plot for The Hunt delivers much promise on paper, making its ultimate execution even more disappointing as it could've been much more than what it ultimately turns out to be. This is a film that desires to be many different forms of entertainment with its ambitions ultimately sinking it when one see's how silly and painfully awkward the messy blend of genres mix together. The timely political satire the film carries feels forced and doesn't fit within the action-packed narrative of the plot. If anything, it distracts from the overall suspense of the story and encourages the film to take unnecessary detours with both the characters and plot, that don't match up with the rest of the film. The character development presented is also bland and one-dimensional with the audience not being able to connect with anyone in the story on an emotional level. The Hunt gives off a vibe that makes it feel similar to Eli Roth's Cabin Fever and not in a complimentary way. Much like that film, The Hunt bathes in excess violence and gore for intentional shock value with the plot being designed to be taken as silly fun with political undertones to it. The biggest problem that The Hunt possesses as a film which ultimately ends up being it's undoing, is that the film isn't sure on what exactly it wants to be. It desires to have both action and satire with the two genres not blending together well at all (Which is a true shame in itself because the plot carried strong potential here).

      In addition to the unusual and confusing tone that The Hunt delivers, the performances from its main cast comes across as feeling both standard and uninspired here with the exception of its main female lead. Some of the films top billed actors have misleading appearances in the promotional ads and trailers as their time in the overall film is limited to either brief cameos, or randomly killed off for intended shock value. In the films main role, Betty Gilpin delivers a strong and likable performance as Crystal Greasey with her character intended to be the kick-ass female heroine of the story. Her character is presented as being savvy, aggressive, and brutal when required with her only objective being to survive "The Hunt". Hilary Swank gives an effective yet minimal performance as Athena Stone, the films main villainous who happens to be the leader of a group of elites who kidnap people and hunt them for sport. Both a reliable and quality actress when put on screen, Swank makes the most of her one-dimensional role with her character appearing to be a wealthy elite who despises people she see's in her eyes as being "deplorables." The rest of the cast makes the most of their roles and minimal character development with Emma Roberts giving a notable performance as one of the twelve strangers named Yoga Pants, Ikr Barinholtz as Staten Island, Wayne Duvall as Don, and Ethan Supper as Gary. As a whole, the cast to The Hunt give just about the kind of performances one would expect from an action-packed/horror style story such as this with none of the performances rising above being serviceable to decent at best. Two Supporting performances that emphasize the films desire to take direct aim at the political divide in America are the characters of Don and Gary played by Wayne Duvall and Ethan Supper. Both characters embody all the stereotypical traits of far right-leaning individuals and activists with Don's character being a representation of the typical gon-toting Republican, who allies up with Crystal and Gary being an Infowars style conspiracy theorist that represents every anti-liberal and immigrant stance there is. Despite the characters acting as generic tropes to fit the films satirical tone and message, the actors at the very least attempt to make the most of their screentime with their roles.

      The films directing by Craig Zobel is lackluster for the most part with the film having the look of a cheesy B action movie feel to it. Zobel directs the film as if the intent from the start was always to make it dark humored fun with action, thrills, and horror elements sprinkled throughout the story to give it a more suspenseful feel to it. When one thinks of the type of directing style that The Hunt has, they think of the film as being campy and poking fun at the current political climate that's so divisive. When it comes to depicting the films violence, Zobel doesn't hold back in regards to the films gore with the deaths of characters being sudden with the full intent meant to provide audiences with pure shock value, given that the story is about twelve people being hunted and preyed on. The films graphic moments doesn't shy away from elements that enhance it such as the use bloody boobytraps in the story as well as a grenade being thrown down a characters pants, and numerous messy wounds as the result of arrows, knives and bullets. Whereas the film thrives in both the action and gore department, the cinematography can be added to the list of elements about the film that feel uninspired as the grey layer of lighting doesn't do anything impressive in regards to the films overall look or mood. The editing keeps the story moving at a brisk pace, which makes it feel like an action/thriller/horror flick despite the character development being relatively messy with the plot zig zagging at numerous points to accompany its satirical tone. Besides a handful of reasonably suspenseful and thrilling sequences (The films first major shootout for example) as well as some decent hand to hand combat sequences, the directing for The Hunt doesn't prove to be anything impressive or noteworthy to write home about with Zobel's work here feeling underwhelming as a whole. It doesn't help that the script feels like a poor meshup of three genres rolled into one with Zobel adding to the uneven and confused tone that the film possesses. One can only imagine what the end result would've turned out like had Zobel had a more straight-forward narrative to work off, that focused more specifically on the action and thrills aspect of the story moreso than the dark humor.

      The screenplay by Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof is where the film ultimately falls apart with its uneven meshup of action and comedy. Designed to be a satirical piece on the extreme sides of America's two major political parties, The Hunt spares no one and fires even shots at both, even going as far as designing characters that fit the stereotypes of both right and left-wing individuals. Some of the themes that are explored within The Hunt's satire are both sides inability to agree on key issues, the lack of partisanship, the acknowledging and denial of climate change, the concept of free speech along with what it deemed as such, conspiracies, and the assumptions of certain demographics of people made by other key characters (Gary for example with his hardened stance against anti-immigrants, along with questioning what's real and what isn't in the news. The films overall message within its mayhem says that being "deplorable  (A term used by 2016 Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to describe supporters of then Republican candidate/President Donald J. Trump) is a matter of perspective. The filmmakers surround this message along with the films satire around the foundation of the film being a typical survival thriller with a concept that had potential to be much more than what it ultimately is. The film starts off with a strong opening, that effectively draws the audience into the story before diving into its societal commentary, which quickly diminishes the momentum the opening sequence built up prior. The switch up doesn't work here and moves the film in a direction that does significant harm to the integrity of the story rather than build off its suspense. It would've been more effective if the filmmakers chose to stick with the survival aspect of the story and incorporated subtle moments where they poke fun at today's political climate rather than making the entire film out to be one big joke aimed at both sides, that backfires significantly in terms of the stories overall execution. The Hunt feels as if its two films with completely separate genres merged into one with both fighting for total dominance over the film as a whole. The concept of a group of wealthy elites forcing people to fight for their own survival, had potential to make for an adult-themed Hunger Games style action-thriller with the first act beginning with strong promise before that momentum faded once the film began to take a detour into forced satirical territory. The use of the films violence doesn't feel unnecessary or just shown for the sake of doing so, but fits the tone and atmosphere of the world presented in the story with its usage being effective. However, it's a shame that the writers didn't explore this aspect of the story more in-depth and abandon the satire.

    Overall, The Hunt is certainly not a film for everyone as its divisive tone will prevent it from being so with audiences.
Some will appreciate the films harmless fun at not just presenting mayhem but its firing of shots at both sides of the political spectrum, while others will feel that the two sides of the film don't mesh well together and ultimately undermine its overall quality. The Hunt is a film that had potential to be something really entertaining and creative for audiences, had more restraint been placed on the filmmakers during the writing process. One clearly see's what kind of direction the filmmakers intended to take the film with its satirical approach, but the latter just simply doesn't work here and leaves the picture as a whole feeling like an awkward experience. While neither side will take much offense to the fun being poked at them through the films narrative, both will question the need for the filmmakers to go down that route instead of focusing on developing the jaw-dropping survival aspect of the story which the films opening sequences establish so well (And therefore, should've made up the majority of the film). The biggest downfall of the film is its script as everything feels confusing and messy with the first half being the strongest part of the film with the story becoming undone by the films second act, along with completely collapsing by its third. The few elements of the film that do work are the films well-staged action sequences and Betty Gilpin making for a somewhat appealing lead with her performance. Beyond that, The Hunt is a film that can easily be avoided and skipped in a pursuit for something more satisfying that goes down the same route in regards to story without the films satirical style having such a forceful presence in the story. The Hunt can best be described as both silly and unapologetic fun with its no mercy attitude in shaming both parties for their extreme stances. For some, that may be enough to please and ultimately satisfy those looking for reasonable throwaway entertainment. For others looking for a well-structured story that remains consistent in tone, they're bound to find frustration and disappointment with the films overall presentation given the potential its premise carries. The Hunt is one of the boldest and most daring films released in 2020 thus far with the implication not being a positive one. The film works best as being one of those painfully awkward B- movies, thats only good enough for one watch out of curiosity to see what the controversy regarding its satirical approach is about then is worth immediately forgetting about afterwards. Truthfully said, one is better off avoiding the film altogether and looking for a more satisfying suspense story released this year (I'm looking at you The Invisible Man).

Final Verdict: For those looking for an entertaining action-thriller that's consistent in both story and tone, The Hunt should be skipped as its both messy and unwelcoming with it's shots fired approach at both sides of the political aisle in place of its promising survival storyline.