Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia)
After several delayed release due the supposed controversy around the literally hunting of certain groups of humans as a sport for the elites. The Hunt” directed by Craig Zobel is a fast and furious satire that goes the route of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” and “Hunger Games”. This highly brutal and entertaining film provides the ground work for a deeper storyline, but unfortunately fails to go the distance and the eagerly awaited finale between Hilary Swank and lead Betty Gilpin ended up rather cliche filled than inspired.
Betty Gilpin takes up the leading role in this black comedy where somebody gets brutally killed every minute or two. Gilpin does well in a role that require strong physical presence and her fight scenes excel by each pending death to a fellow on-screen member. The ensemble
casting of Ike Barinholtz, Amy Madigan, Emma Roberts, Ethan Suplee to name a few are simply require to turn up and be murdered brutally. Hilary Swank shines in her limited scenes as the mastermind behind “The Hunt” and the irony serves as a kind reminder that Swank herself used to play the kind of role Gilpin is playing.
All in all, “The Hunt” tries hard to be on surface a political satire with elements of action and black comedy buried in between. It amounts to nothing more than a simple forgettable affair that goes haywire in its violence. We get an entertaining duration as we see some glimpses of “Animal Farm” allegory, but nothing that makes the film a brilliant one at its core.
I rated it 6.5/10
