Review of The Hunt (2020) by Shininglion — 14 Apr 2020

This film is basically an exaggerated expression of a centrist's view of the current political climate. I'm not saying that's the intention of it, but it's definitely a way you could summarize it. And yet it manages to slip in little seeds of thought that both sides of America's political spectrum can ponder. What I love about this film the most is that it is absurd and comedic enough, yet still grounded enough in reality, to be an effective satire. It doesn't make the common mistake of taking itself too seriously and coming off too preachy. I can see why the MSM panned the movie, just like they did to Joker, because it represents a sort of counterculture to the Hollywood/MSM narrative. It calls into question the necessity of a polarized, gullible public in a pretty clever way if you understand the symbolism embedded in the movie (there is more than just the dialogue, to my surprise).

Every aspect of the production was better than I expected it would be, the cinematography, the acting, the music, and even the fight scene choreography. If you don't have at least a slight tolerance for B-movie schlock and gore you'll hate it, but if you've even watched a zombie movie there is nothing too offensive to see here. Even with all that aside, the film was simply entertaining and engaging throughout. Absurd enough that I was almost shaking with anticipation of what was going to happen next (okay maybe that was partly the nervousness I get with Battle Royale style movies).

The film isn't perfect. Some of the gags don't land, but that's highly subjective. It was way more hit than miss for me. Some of the plot points are horror-movie level predictable but not in significant ways. For the most part the plot was not predictable and kept moving refreshingly along.

This movie is destined for cult classic status. When people pull their heads out of their butts in 10-15 years and American society becomes less cutthroat and polarized people will look back at this movie and laugh and think "my god, how did we ever get to that point?".

Beautiful, merciless satire loaded with truth bombs. If you live in America or any Western culture, don't miss it. Or if you just want to see the most rad dirty catfight since Kill Bill, check it out (downvotes incoming by thought-police people this movie was about).