The Hunt, the overlooked action thriller gem from 2020, is about to be removed from Netflix.
The movie sees 12 working-class strangers wake up in a remote clearing with no idea where they are or how they got there.
It turns out they have been kidnapped by ruthless elites (the leader of which is played by two-time Oscar-winner Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby) who have gathered to hunt the 12 for sport.
One of those kidnapped – an army veteran named Crystal (Betty Gilpin, Glow) – decides to fight back, however.
Co-written by Damon Lindelof (Lost, Watchmen) and directed by Craig Zobel (Mare of Easttown, The Penguin), the release of The Hunt was overshadowed both by Covid-19 and the movie becoming embroiled in a controversy involving US President Donald Trump.
Though the politician didn’t name the movie, he appeared to accuse it in a Tweet ahead of its release of being made “in order to inflame and cause chaos”. You can read more about this right here.
The Trump controversy led to the film dubbing itself in its marketing “the most talked about movie of the year no one’s actually seen”.
The Hunt also had its release delayed as a result of the Dayton and El Paso mass shootings in 2019.
Though these events dominated the initial discussion around Lindelof and Zobel’s film, we’d argue that the pair made a solid, mean-and-lean horror action thriller with a ferocious lead turn by Gilpin.
Also, The Hunt’s strong dose of satirical black comedy and its great supporting cast make it well worth seeking out.
The latter includes Emma Roberts (American Horror Story), Ethan Suplee (My Name is Earl), Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Ike Barinholtz (The Studio) and Macon Blair (Oppenheimer).
You can read a sample of the positive reviews for The Hunt right here:
Austin Chronicle: “This is Gilpin’s film. If you’re wondering, this is proof final that the Glow star is a mesmerising force.”
The Australian: “What I think this intelligent, violent movie is saying is that both stories are wrong because in races where it’s us (or US) versus them there can be no winner.”
The Daily Beast: “This gleefully trashy, superficial satire takes shotgun aim at both Democrats and Republicans for their stereotypical assumptions about, and thin-skinned fury at, each other.”
IndieWire: “Glow star Betty Gilpin plays [Crystal] with almost sociopathic cool in an inspired and strange performance that splits the difference between Linda Hamilton and No Country for Old Men baddie Anton Chigurh.”
Wall Street Journal: “This gleeful, gross-out gorefest looks as tacky and violent as its trackdown plot would suggest, and lives up to certain parts of its bad reputation. It is also funny, genuinely topical, extremely shrewd and, heaven help us, slyly wise.”
While The Hunt seemed to find a bigger audience on streaming, Netflix has announced that it will be leaving the service soon.
Users’ last day to watch the movie on the streaming service will be Thursday, 15 May.
Related: Netflix has just quietly added one of the decade’s very best movies