Review of Hyena (2015) by Jacob F — 15 Apr 2017

Hyena does a good job engaging the viewer in the beginning with an intense few minutes, but slowly fails to entertain throughout the rest of the film. Don't get me wrong, there's a few surprising moments, the acting is great, it's overall well shot, the soundtrack is fine and reminiscent of Only god forgives, and Drive.

But the film just feels dry too much of the time. It feels lifeless, like it's trying so hard to be gritty that it sucks all possible life from itself. Maybe this was intentional, but even then it didn't work for me. It was just too dull.

Hyena also has an ending that's open to interpretation. It's quite obvious what the outcome is, but I would've liked a more clear cut ending that felt satisfying.

Overall Hyena is worth watching if you want a very dark crime thriller, just don't expect it to fully engage you, or wait for a satisfying end.