Review of The Hunt (2013) by Jordan A — 08 Jan 2014

EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY MY FAMILY, NEEDS TO SEE THIS FILM NOW.

"The Hunt" or "Jagten" as it is known in its native Danish language, is a film starring Mads Mikkelsen as Lucas, a friendly kindergarten teacher who is going through a tough time because of the limited custody of his son, and the hardships dealing with his newly ex-wife. Lucas' life begins to look up when he seeks for more custody of his son, and he finds a new girlfriend. However, when a little girl that attends the kindergarten, Klara - who happens to be his best friend's daughter - spreads the lie that Lucas sexually assaulted her, Lucas is catapulted into the spotlight as the village pervert. At almost every turn, Lucas is betrayed not only by his closest friends, but even by more of the kids he works with and his girlfriend.

This film is extremely gripping and beautiful right from the start. Thomas Vinterberg's skill behind the camera is shown through wide, beautiful landscape shots that fully capture the essence of this little forest town. Mads Mikkelsen is absolutely dynamite in his soft-spoken, slow to anger portrayal of Lucas, which is almost guaranteed to net him an Oscar nomination, as he already won the Best Actor award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Above all of this though, is the smartly written, extremely timely screenplay, written by Tobias Lindholm and Thomas Vinterberg. The film asks difficult questions of the viewers, and is absolutely unapologetic in answering them. "The Hunt" accurately depicts just how far people will go when affected by mass hysteria, and how someone's life can be not only destroyed, but put in physical danger when they are accused of such a serious crime, even if the said crime is not true.

"The Hunt" is not an easy film to watch. The subject matter is horrifying, and can be uncomfortable. But that is exactly what the film is trying to accomplish. Even more than the horrors of child sexual abuse, the film portrays the primal urges of human behavior that involve protecting their young at any cost. This is one of the best films of the last year and I hope that Mads Mikkelsen gets an Oscar win for this film. I know I was rooting for Chiwetel Ejiofor's Solomon Northup, and I still am, but Mikkelsen's Lucas is just too powerful to ignore. "The Hunt" is in the running this year for the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Film as the Danish submission, and I certainly hope it wins. This film is extremely good, and I hope everyone has the chance to see it.